HeartTale
by Kupcake Kitty
Summary: Ten years ago Dr. Gaster created life by using monster and human DNA. His plan was to use the creature to shatter the barrier without relying on the seven human souls. Something went wrong, only his children can put things right again. ((Warning: OC, self-hatred, violence, GBLT, death, bit of profanity, emotional abuse, lewd and suggestive adult theme))
1. Chapter 00 (Prologue)

Deep, deep underground there was a secret laboratory hidden from the world. A place where inhuman experiments were conducted while being trapped inside the walls like rats. Not even a kind-hearted monster would dare step foot inside this laboratory. No windows or doors to escape from or let an ounce of warm light from the outside world inside. Fluorescent bulbs were the only source of light of hope to fight off the cold darkness. It couldn't keep away the haunting memories of death and unhappiness echoing through the walls. Not even a smile could wash the painful cries of a child's voice as it bouncing off the wall. Inside a large white room, a test subjected was being prepared for the experiment. The floor was covered with tubing and wire hooked up to a mechanical machine. In the center of the mess was a tall thin skeleton in a lab coat leaning over a strange human-like creature on an operating table. The first glace it appeared to be the corpse of a little girl, who had the right side of their flesh completely cleaned off, down to the bone. The left side of the chest was still cover in in soft pink flesh moving up and down with every gasping breath the child took. Whimpering a bit between breaths as their finger rubbed on the smooth surfaces of the cold metal table. She begged for the freedom to move her hands and find the words to speak. The poor thing couldn't move a muscle, as its arms and legs were bound by metal cuffs pinning the body down to the table. Hours of crying had left the throat dry to the bone. Uttering even a sound caused a scratchy burning sensation that swells up in the mouth and throat. In the corner of her left eye, she watched as the skeleton figure turned his back while he messed around with medical instruments layout on the metal tray that was connected to a stand.

"D…A...D...D….Y"

"SUBJECT TWO..." the skeleton yelled, smacking his hands against the tray as orange-blue lights flared up in the eye sockets causing the table to bounce as a few pieces of equipment hit the flooring. The bony hands clutched into tight fits as the rest of their body rattled in anger. "I told you repeatedly to not to call me that…You are to refer to me as Dr. Gaster, or doctor, nothing else." He demands in a harsh voice, noticing a dark shadow figure leering in the corner of the room. It didn't say a word as its yellow orbs watched every movement the doctor made. Gaster groaned in bitterness trying to ignore the spectator as he went back to work. He picked up a syringe filled with mysterious liquid the same color as human blood, but tinnier and glowed as it cast a red reflection over the heartless skeleton's face.

"NO…MO…RE…PL...E…" Subject Two pleading, turning into a fit of coughing as Gaster gently pinched the skin on girl's arm. The human-skeleton girl cried in fear as the tip of the needle pierce the skin. Another cry was about to escape her lips, but it stopped as a happy chiming noise buzzed in her ear. She slowly opened her eye watching as the wicked skeleton doctor quickly placed the syringe onto the steel tray and walking out of the room. Paying no mind to the darkly hooded creature, who was still leering in the room and left alone with the poor child.

The happy melody stopped for a second before the tune started back up from the beginning of the song as the skeleton walked down the hallway into a room smaller than one he had been previously. Unlike the other room which gave off creepy vibes of a laboratory built by Dr. Frankenstein, this one was simply a messy office with many bookcases. Gaster walked over to the computer table littered with stacks of paper. A bone hand dug into the pile, causing the happy melody to became loud as a bright light flashed under a few scraps of paper. Under the mess was a black flip phone which he quickly flipped open and press against the side of his skull discovering a tiny young male voice calling out for their father.

"Sans...I know...I'm sorry ...I have to work late. I need to get this done for the King, by tomorrow..." The skeleton sighed as his fingers tapped on the desk waiting for the voice on the line to stop pleading for him to come home. He hated leaving his children alone unprotected during the night but work came first. "I promise to tell you everything...Just not yet...You're eight years old now, so be a big boy for daddy...There is a can of spaghetti you can heat up in the microwave...make sure Papyrus goes to sleep. I don't want him playing with his Rubik's cube all night again...Yes...I will make sure to buy ketchup on my way home. Good night, I love you both." he whispers the last words before flipping the cell phone closed with a deep sigh, turning the phone into silent mode and placing back it on the desk.

It didn't take long for Gaster to return to the room where his test subject was waiting. She looks up at him with her tired sleepy one purple eye. Darkness and despair eat away at the orange-blue soul, burning in pain as it pushed against his rib cage. The cold boney body turned away ignoring the whimpering painful noise that slipped from the child's pleading lips. A hand hovered over the tray stand as fingers lightly brushed the red syringe as he looked at the other five empty syringe barrels next to it. Night after night, he caused this poor girl pain as he injected her with different soul traits. Tonight, he was hoping it would be the last time he had to do this. All their hopes rest on this little human-skeleton to save all of monsters kind. He couldn't wait for the three other humans to fall into the Underground. There was no telling if the others would fall anyway. What if humans were already wiped off the face of the earth?

Gaster looked down at the holes in his hands as he wiped purple tears from the girl's eye. The experiment was already this far along, so why should he stop now? He needs to save everyone. Even if it meant killing his own…The skeleton shook the dark thought from his mind. Test subjects were expandable. This child didn't belong to the monster world or the human world. There was no place for this hybrid outside the laboratory walls. He promised to show his children real stars someday on the surface. First, he needed to break the barrier that imprisoned the monster race in the Underground.

"I'm sorry my child, but we need you. If this works, we will not need to wait for the last remaining souls, to break the barrier? Just you and combined soul traits inside of you…" the skeleton said while injecting Subject Two with the soul-trait of determination. A chilling scream echoed off the walls as a sharper pain shocked through the child's body. Purple fire flared from girl's right socket as the head tossed to the side, writhing in pain. A high-pitched screech pierced the eardrums as her fingers nails scrape across the metal operating table. Gaster took a step back watching in horror as the test subject's left eye glazed over and child's expression went blank and tensed up. He quickly pulled the resuscitator over and carefully opening the child's mouth. A plastic mask was placed over the subject's mouth and releasing clean air into the chamber. No response as two bony hands, one on top of the other placed over the middle area of the girl's chest, pushing down hard over and over, but nothing change. "WAKE UP!" He screamed while blue light shimmered under the child's clothing as he used magic to put presser on the girl's soul.

Piercing shrill of pain filled the air as the blue magic released the captivity soul. Subject Two heavily breathed while sweat dripped down their face, drenching her rave hair underneath her head. The cloudy eye came back into focus as a crimson red ring glowed around the purple iris and dark purple orb glowed in the right eye socket. A half smile spread across the human side of the face as Gaster removed the breathing mask. Her lips trembled slightly as her mouth opened. "I'm al…rig… ht…Da…Doc…tor….It dos.. en't hu..rt any…more" She spoke in a weak voice as the sound of bone-rattling came from under her grayish medical gown.

The skeleton sighed in relief as the dark aura left the room he slightly looked over his shoulder discovering the corner of the room was now empty. It was only the two of them now as the skeleton leaned over carefully and took hold of the child's tiny right bony white hand within his own bony hand. "The soul level was too low right now to precede with the next operation of the plan…It will have to wait until morning." Letting go of the child's hand "I need you at full strength…" Gaster deeply sighed while undoing the metal cuff binding the girl to the operating table. "Getting some rest is the best course of action...All of our hope rests on you….I can't afford to fail… After all, you're part of both worlds…" arms slowly slipped under the child's head supporting it as the tiny body lifted off the table and cradled in the doctor's arms. "My little angels" Gaster whispered softly into the sleepy girl's ear as they walked out into the hallway to an unknown part of the Secret Laboratory.

Nothing changed in the Underground. The barrier that imprisoned the monsters was never broken, leaving the humans the sole race to rule the surface. So the trapped creature's lives stayed the same as they lived out their mundane lives, except for two little skeleton brothers. A tiny dark empty hole of loneliness grew in the children's heart. Their father, the Royal Scientist was known to leave the boys alone and not come home for few days, but those days quickly turned to weeks. Dr. Gaster was soon claimed as missing, disappearing without a word to anyone. A search party was sent out to find him. There was no sign of him, not even a bone. A month come and gone as another scientist was appointed the title "Royal Scientist" and took over the absent doctor's research and laboratory. The secret experiment plan to free everyone vanished. Ten years went by and two more human souls were captured. Which was wonderful for everyone; except for two brothers who really just wanted to see their father again, unaware of the secrets leering in the Royal Laboratory and the horrors locked away deep inside the True Laboratory of the Underground.


	2. Chapter 1

Ashy snow fell from the sky as the pungent sickening sweetness of death drifted in the air. A human-skeleton woman gasped in agony lying in the snow, she slipped her hand under her chest, pressing against the blue winter jacket covering the stomach. Blood soaked through the cloth as it seeps between the female's fingers. The haunting laughter of deep voices filled the air behind her; mocking the foolish monster that had attempted to escape. She didn't bother looking back as she started to slowly crawl with the only strength she had left. Digging through the fresh gray snow, pulling her limp body across the freezing ground. The coldness stung the fresh wounds in her left fleshy leg as her cracked right femur dragged in the snow. A shaking hand reached out in front of the female skeleton as she tries to take hold of the tiny charcoal colored bony hand belonging to a tiny skel-child with green tears streaming down the side of their cheekbones. It was too late as the female only caught a red scarf covered in gray powder. They turned to dust and had already started mixing in the breeze. Coldness and ash stung the shocked woman's eyes as her purple tears mixed with the child's dust, ran down the side of her cheeks as the face rubbed against the fabric. The heartbroken creature took a deep breath as their lungs filled with the sweet scent of chili peppers that were forever embedded in the cloth. Everything she holds dear was turned to nothing, but gray dust blowing in the cold winds. There was nothing in this world that could erase the dark sad loneliness that loomed in her soul, not even death. A sharp pain of sorrow crushed her soul as the cold wind filled with the monster's weeping howls.

A Black glove slipped under the mourning woman's chin as her tearful face was slowly brought up to reveal a red hooded creature. An evil snicker echoed from within the hood as the deep crimson eyes burned with loathing hate for the monster before them. The female's eyes widen in horror as the stranger pulled down their hood revealing a teenage human with short brunette hair. A wicked smile spread across the human's face as black goop dripped from their lips and eyes. In their red eyes, she could make out her reflection. A broken-hearted creature with half a human fleshy face. Blood oozed from the right side of the cranium, dripping down the side of a bony skull.

Evil tainted magic seeped from the human's darken soul as they leaning over, grabbing a handful of the human-skeleton women's raven black hair, and pulling her up to one knee. She whimpered in pain as the human demon wrapped their other arm around the waist of a blue winter jacket, pulling her closer to them keeping one-legged monster steady. Rose cheeks rubbed against the side of the woman's bony cheek, with no reaction. She was nothing, but a rag doll, a useless living corpse in their arms, who lost the will to live. The human groaned in disappointment, carefully sliding a knife covered in dust under woman's chin. Still, there was no reaction. "I thought you would have been pleased to see your old Pal, Witch… You do look bone tired. I can help you with that…" Pressing the blade hard and deeper into her flesh, cutting across the neck a dozen of times. "Sweet dreams …Freak! See you next world" the voice giggled into the woman's left ear.

Those words were empty coldhearted wishful thinking as the blood dripped down her neck. Dreaming was a fools game in this world of an endless nightmare of kill or be killed. The halfling's body struggled to live as their lungs gasped for air but quickly filled the pathways with blood. It was useless as dizziness spread across the mind. Cold darkness clouded the eye vision for a moment as her body became light and floaty.

"What's the point of living….If everyone always...? I can't take it anymore."

" **✌r✋✌l...re💣e💣👌er 🕈e ✌re 🏱er💧e✞er✌n👍e…👎✌👎👎✡ ✋💧 👍o🕆n❄✋ng on 🕆💧…👎on'❄ g✋✞e 🕆🏱.** "

"Please no more!"

"✌r✋✌l?"

"I'm done….I can't do this anymore. Just let me die already…I want to be with my da…."

" **👎on'❄ 👍r✡ ✌r✋✌l…✋ 🕆n👎er💧❄✌n👎 ✡o🕆're ✋n 🏱✌✋n…✋'💣 💧orr✡…✋ g🕆e💧💧 ❄h✋💧 ✋💧 goo👎👌✡e ❄hen, ✌r✋✌l… ✋ 🏱r✌✡ for ✡o🕆r h✌🏱🏱✋ne💧💧 ✋n ❄he ne✠❄ ❄✋💣el✋ne.** "

A heavenly melody filled the air with a swirl of magic that surrounds the human-skeleton's body. Tiny purple fragments the size of sparks, floated out of her chest as a glowing white reel pulled out long behind it. Displaying on each one was memories of the past. Her eyes became heavy as she watched sparks dance around her skull as dark purple magic oozed over the scenes, snuffing out the images. Her head became light and confused as blurriness blinded the eyesight as the body felt warm, a light enveloped her and pulling it backward.

"Subject Two?" A mysterious voice said.

A puzzled expression spread across the human-skeleton child's face as she slowly opened her eye, trying to remember what had happened a few moments ago. Nothing came to mind as she looked up to find a male skeleton with a crack on top of right side the skull leading down the eye socket. Cold bitterness was in his eyes as he looked down at her before turning his attention to something in front of them. Dark horror washed over the tiny soul as her head dainty turned to the side, noticing a bronze machine that resembles a giant deer skull. Four dark silver tubing sprouted from the head up to the ceiling as steam drifted from the metal eye sockets. Shivers ran up her spine as her feet were carefully placed on the cold dark green tiling. What rattled the bones more was the sight of seeing her reflection off the shiny metal. The right side appeared to be just bone from the skull, all the way down her spine and right leg. The rest of her body was covered in human flesh with long black hair covering both sides of her head. She was nothing, but a freaky looking child in a gray medical gown, an experiment cooked up in the laboratory she lived all her life in.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as her tiny arms wrapped tightly around a flower pot and pressed it into her chest, hugging it tightly. Sadness filled Arial's eye as she looked down at a wilted yellow flower. Her face slightly nuzzled the golden petals, wishing for some comforting words, but nothing happened. "No, don't take him…I'm sorry." She pleads as large bony hands took away the plant.

The girl reached out, grabbing onto the man's white lab coat pleading for them to give back the flower. Loud buzzing noises filled the air as everything turned into pitch blackness. The little creature's vision slowly came back, finding herself snuggled into a tight space, alone. The only thing that could be heard was the fast beating of her heart as freezing metal brought shivers down her spine. Outside of her confines, she could hear a man's muffled voice. She was not sure if he was speaking to her or someone else. She tries to focus on his words. It was useless as a sound of loud roaring steam coming from the machine, masking any other sound.

The girl screamed as she felt heated blisters form on her soft pink flesh. The right side of her body had been free of skin since birth, so the steam was non-effective. Her left side felt like it was on fire as if something was burning and crushing at the same time. She clenched her chest as a sharp pain pinched her heart. Between her fingers, she could see different colors of lights glowing brighter and brighter from her chest. It was as if something was being pulled out of her soul. "STOP!" she cried out in pain closing her eye.

The eye shot opened as a teenager human-skeleton girl gasped for air. "It was…just…a dream?" Arial laughed in a nervous cracking voice, the heart pounded against her chest. Sweat dripped from the left side of her face as her purple eye focused on the white ceiling above her head. Saying all of it was a dream was an understatement. She couldn't recall all of it, but the last bits were a chilling dark memory of the past she wished to forget. It was the event that leads to her creator, WD Gaster being tossed into the vo… A sharp pain pinched her soul, causing her body to curl up in agony. Becking the mind not to linger too much in the past. The teen couldn't help it, she was to blame for deaths of her fam… another sharp pain surged through the soul, this time causing a whimper to escape the lips. Purple tears mixed with sweat started to drip down the cheek. Lost saddened aura loomed over her body as the girl sang softly to herself. The soul felt a little lighter and the pain was gone. It was funny how music had the power to soothe one's soul, but there was still loneliness looming in the heart. It felt like there was something or someone importation that had been wiped away from her memory. Something inside her told her it was best to forget the dark past, leave it in the dust and move forward. It was normal to forget and blackout things from childhood especially ones that were painful to the soul.

Subject Two slightly shifting her head as a hand reached out, pushing blackout curtain to the side. Outside the window, she could see an orange-red hot glow of fiery-rock lands she called home, Hotland. She wiped sweat from her face before setting up right. A hand placed on the chest as purple light shimmered between the fingers. Slowly hand pulled away with a purple heart floating on top. In this world, all living creatures were born with a colorful soul representing a trait which suiting their personality the best. A giggle escaped her lips as she softly touched the heart while studying it. There was no sign of cracks or discoloring to the soul, but the pain she felt earlier had her worry a bit. Unlike the rest of the monsters in the Underground, she was part human and skeleton. She was the only one of her kind so if she ever got sick, finding a cure would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. The only one, who knew how the abomination worked, was gone. It was all Arial's fault. All she wanted was to be free and be part of a family. In the end, she kind of got her wish, but at a precious cost. No one could replace her dear creator.

The human-skeleton places her feet on cold tile floors. The chill was refreshing on the soles of her left fleshy foot as she walked across the floor. She looked over at a worn out lab coat hanging off the back of a door to her room. A purple tear streamed down the side of the face as her two-toned face sank deep into the fabric of the coat. A faint smell of ketchup and smoke drifted into her lung. Carefully taking the coat off the hook, before she slipped it over her silky black night grown.

Taking a few steps back as she opened the door slightly, hearing a faint happy and upbeat melody, coming down along a greenish hallway. "Alphy didn't stay up all night watching anime again, did she?" She thought, as she rolled her eye with a slight smile, quickly turned into a sigh. It was time to face the day as she heads towards the sources of the cheerful music while unconsciously humming the notes of the song to herself.

((OCC: The symbols used are Wingding font. I used translator found grompe.))


	3. Chapter 2

Tired eyes filled with excitement as colorful lights flashed into them. The young scientist kept repeating to herself, "just one more episode, and then bed". Each time the ending credits appear she clicked to the next one as she snuggled deeper into the couch, continuing to munch on her popcorn. She was a brilliant scientist, but she couldn't explain why anime was so addicting to her. Her eyes were so focused on the screen, she didn't notice something was wrapping around her neck.

"AHHH!" she cried as popcorn went flying in the air. The bowl hit the floor as she slowly looked up at her captor. "It's only you, Arial….Did I wake you?" she sighs in relief as she lay deeper into the girl's hug, getting a whiff of the smell of smoke. "Oh..i…tttt...it's morning already….A…re…you…a..alright…?"

She slowly pulled away from the young girl as she turned her dino-like body to face the human-skeleton wearing the oversize lab coat over her nightdress. The child didn't have to say a thing; she knows why the girl was wearing the old dirty coat covered in old red stains of ketchup. There was a dark sadness looming in the girl's left purple eye. A yellow claw brushed through semi-wetness of the human-skeleton's raven black hair. "The nightmares must have returned," she thought as she pets the side of Arial's hair damp with sweat. Alphy wished she could make all of it go away for her, but the only thing her magic could do, heal simple physical damage but not psychological trauma. "H..how about…. I make u..us some…n...noodles and e..eggs for breakfast. Then we can…..w..watch M…mew Mew t...together?" She stuttered, forcing a smile on her face. Alphys stood up as crunching echoed in the air while large yellow feet stepped across the popcorn trail, heading toward a flight of stairs, leaving the child alone.

Deep down Arial wanted to grip on to Alphys' lab coat and follow her like a lost puppy dog. But instead, she held her poise and blankly looks at the moving colors on the television screen. She was not a little child anymore. She didn't need to worry the female reptilian with the never-ending nightmare that lurks in her mind. Loving words and hugs were nice but it was only a temporary fix. No matter how hard Arial tried to bury those memories deep down, it always found its way back through her dreams. The sharp pain in the chest was gone, but the pain of remorse was still eating at the soul. She hated to worry her caretaker. During the day she did her best to act as if nothing was wrong by smiling and focusing her attention on other things, like the popcorn mess lying before her.

Arial leans over to pick up the popcorn bowl and started carefully working on the mess. Using a vacuum would have been a quicker way to clean the mess. Sadly, Alphys used it to temporary fix one of Mettaton's arms after he accidentally cut it off and baked in the oven, during one of his cooking shows. That was about week ago; Arial forgave her, seeing that Alphys was always busy in the secret laboratory doing who knows what, to buy a new vacuum. The thought of the secret laboratory brought shivers down the girl's spine as she looked at the burn marks on her fleshy left arm then at the hairline fractures on her right bony white index finger. It had been ten years since she was trapped down in the secret laboratory and wanted to keep far away from it as much as possible. What hurt more was knowing that Alphys was using the secret laboratory or what she renamed the true lab and wouldn't tell her what experiments were going on down there. Part of her wanted to ask, but the other part was scared that her beloved caretaker was following the same path as her creator took. "Stop it…Stop it…." She cried softly to herself, "Alphy is different….She's not going to leave you. Remember she promised." Tears streamed down her cheek as she finished picking up the last bits of popcorn before heading down the steps to find Alphys standing in front of computer desk messing with a microwave.

Alphys' head started to spin as she watched the bowl of noodles go round and round in the microwave. Now that she was away from the television her eyes felt really heavy. She couldn't sleep now, not when her adopted daughter needed her the most. "R…right….eggs." She said to herself as she walked over to the mini fridge. As she opened the cooler she noticed a sticky note on the door. It was a messy handwritten message "Anime Night with Undyne," which was dated for later that day. A light blush appeared on her face as she thought of her secret crush sitting next to her on the comfy couch, eating popcorn. "O, d…d…ear I...I forgot… s…shes com…ing over here…..What am I….going t…to do…about A…arial?" She thought, leaning her head on the fridge door. "S…should I…I let them m…meet?" This question keeps repeating in her mind as she tried to stay stable to finish making breakfast. Alphys hated hiding things from Undye, but as a royal guard, it was her duty to capture humans. What was she going to do? She could ask Arial to stay in her room for the night, but that would be rude to the girl. She was the one who suggested that Alphys needed to open up more and put some faith in Undyne. The dinosaur had agreed to it a week ago, but now that it was finally the day, wild butterflies starting to fill up the stomach.

The reptilian monster hummed a happy melody, try to calm her nerves. It helps a bit, but she felt a saddened aura around her while looking up at a black computer screen. Reflected on glass was a dark blurry tall figure standing a foot behind and wearing a long coat. "D..Dr. G...gaster?" she whispered to herself as the body slowly turned around to find Arial standing behind her. She couldn't help but to slightly chuckle to herself at her careless mistake. "S…sometimes I think I'm n…not feeding y…you enough…Y…you're…just bones…." She tried making a joke, knowing her daughter had a love for puns, even the bad ones. She waited for a comeback, but nothing happened. "Arial?" she called out in worry, carefully taking the bowl of popcorn from the frightened child, before calling out the name again.

The sound of hearing her name shot Arial out her dark thought as she quickly wiped tears from her face. She took a deep breath and slowly releases the air out before putting on a fake smile for the older monster. "I'm alright, mom…Thank you for the food" she said turning her back slightly from Alphas while picking up a steaming hot bowl of noodles and eggs located next to the microwave.

"You're w…welcome," Alphas said returning the smile, knowing perfectly well that girl is being dishonest with her. There was still a sad dark aura all around them as it floated out of Arial's soul.

The two females headed back up to the television area and took a seat on the couch. Arial took a sip of her noodles waiting for "Mew Mew: Kissy Cutie," to appear on the screen, but nothing happens. "Mom?" slipped out of her mouth as she turned her head to face her guardian.

It was as if time stood still as Alphys sat there motionless, staring at the steaming hot bowl in front of her. The young lady waited in silent while she waited for her to respond. After something that felt like ages, Alphys finally told her what was on her mind. Arial smiled as she placed her skeleton hand on older woman's scaly hand.

"It's alright Alphy… I wo…" an uneasy feeling washed over the soul. In the past, Alphys would take her laptop and go over to Undyne's place to hang out. Arial could see in Alphy's hesitation that she hoped Undyne's visit here would take their friendship to the next level. Arial loved Alphy deeply; she was her adopted mother after all. She wanted to make her happy. A day ago, excitement had filled the heart at the chance of finally getting to meet the Underground's strongest warrior, Undyne Fish. For some reason, the thought of meeting her now left a throbbing pain in the human-skeleton's chest. Maybe it was her fear, warning her of the danger she was putting herself in. "I would love to finally meet her" she lied before taking another bite of noodles. She couldn't stay in the dark forever. If Undyne and Alphys were truly best friends, the fish warrior would have to turn a blind eye to the fact that Arial was part human and see she was just a teenage hybrid that was more monster then anything.


	4. Chapter 3

**((OOC: If you would like learn more about HeartTale,** **Undyne, pleases visit "Undertale AU Hearttale Characters Profiles"))**

The sound of water hitting against rocks, echoed and could be heard all over Waterfall region. To many of the residents, the sound was like refreshing music to their ear. Most of the time it was a quiet, murky place to live. For the captain of the Royal Guard however, she spent her day off work, at home and things could get hectic. She's a very passionate and a noisy fish monster, who tends to overreacted in situations. There were many times she would catch her house on fire, because she tends to be a bit careless while cooking. Another time, she decided to play with her giant anime replica sword that Alphys designed. She didn't watch where she was swinging the sword and chopped down a long path of mushrooms, which were used to light the pitch black paths. It took weeks before they grew back and monsters were able to use the path, safely.

The residents of Waterfall didn't have to worry about any disruptions this afternoon. The blue scaled guard was leaving today to spend time with her best friend in the world. A huge smile spread crossed her face, while she thought about her yellow, reptilian, friend, Alphys. Undyne's secret was that, outside she appeared to be calm as a cucumber, but inside her heart was beating in excitement to see her crush. She had been in love with Alphys for many years and she was sure, Alphys felt the same. Undyne would have told her a long time ago but she wanted her friend to be brave enough to finally ask her out. Alphys would be able to gloat about that accomplishment as well and that joy will bring a smile to her face.

The blue scaled monster lost her train of thought as a loud buzzing noise shakes the side of her tight black jeans. She stopped for a few minutes in the damp wet grass for a while. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. Glowing brightly on the phone display was the name, Alphys.

"HEY ALPHY!" her voice excitedly echoed as it bounced off the cavern walls. On the other side of the phone, she could hear a voice scream, then banging noise of the phone being dropping on hard floor. "Are you alright, Alphy?…Sorry I didn't mean to scare you. I'm almost there to Hotland. Whats up! I was going to grab snacks at the MTT food court before heading over..." Undyne's voice resonated a happy tone, while she started swinging her free arm in a jogging motion as she picked up speed.

In her ears she could hear gasping panicked voice, repeating her name over and over. "Clam down Alphy, before you give yourself a mini heart attack….There's someone importation you want me to meet? …..Alphy!" she cried as she heard the phone drop again. Undyne kept calling her name as she started to run as fast as she can without tripping on muddy dirt under her feet. Sure Alphy sometimes went into an embarrassing frame of mind, but this time it seemed like she was in trouble.

Out of no where, an unknown female voice came over the phone, telling her, Alphy was alright she just passed out. This caused Undyne to dig her feet into the dirt as her body slid into a quick halt. Being the captain of the Royal Guard, her job was to go throughout the underground, from time to time, checking up on concerns. She thought she knew every monster, but she never heard this voice, in her life. "I DEMAND YOU, TELL ME WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU DID TO ALPHY!" She yelled into the phone, holding it out in front of her.

"Arial?" she repeated, baffled by this unrecognizable voice. "I DEMAND YOU TELL ME YOU'RE RELATIONSHIP WITH ALPHY NOW!" She screamed at the top of her lungs while running through the cave like a mad women. "TELL ME…" she stops speaking as she heard a clicking noise on the phone and everything goes silent.

She clings the phone hard into her chest, as she started running into turbo mode. Scenes before her became a messy blur of colors. She had to hurry to Alphy's laboratory. This woman may be holding Alphy for ransom. Then again her friend told her that she wanted her to meet someone importation to her. Could Undyne be wrong and Alphy was in love with this girl, Arial and not her? "NO" she screamed, shaking hard from the thought. She had to hurry, Alphy or her own heart, could be in danger.


	5. Chapter 4

The atmosphere in the laboratory's television area, had a heavy dry silence to it while a human-skeleton girl's hand clasped around a pink phone. She stared blankly into its white beaming lights. On its display, Arial could see an image of a red phone with text 'call end,' blinking back at her. She couldn't believe what she had done. She just hung up on Undyne without a warning. Arial knew the conversation didn't go well, judging by the ringing in her ear affected by angry screams over the phone.

A chill ran down Arial's spine while a drop of sweat drips down the left side of her face. Her knees started to shake as she lost control over her body. "It could have been worse….She could have cursed at me" She joked with fear in her words while falling to her knees, right beside Alphys.

Alphys didn't reply to her comment as she was too busy chewing on the tips of her claws. Her heart was racing at the thought of her crush, coming into the laboratory in rage, to find that all this time she was hiding a huge secret from her. "She's going t-to…hate, me!" she thought as tears of panic, started to form. Alphys' eyes cleared up, as she felt Ariel's arms reach around her neck and pull her massive body into a warm hug. She smiled a bit as she looked down at Arial while placing her arms around girl's small waist carefully not to crush her. They sat there silently until they both calmed down.

"I'm sure it will be alright…" Arial said as she pulled away from the loving tender moment. She tucked a lock of black hair behind her ear, before placing a soft kiss on Alphys' forehead. Her bones rattled as she stood up straight. She looked down at her flesh left hand then at tiny bones that made up her left. "Crying and worry time was over" she thought closing her hands to make two fist. It was time for her to stand tall and face her fears. Sure, Undyne was super strong and a master at spear magic, but Arial was good at magic too. Undyne was known to fight first, ask question later. With Alphys here maybe they could avoid a fight. Hopefully!

"May….be….I should….call…her…back." Alphys spoke in panic voice picking up the phone off of the floor while using the walls to steady herself. She was not a brave monster, but seeing the spark of courage in Arial, gave her a bit of hope. Alphys looked down at the phone. Using her free hand, her finger hovered over the redial button. She just had to call Undyne back and…..

Without warning a loud banging noise echoed through the laboratory halls as the front doors of the building went flying into the air. Alphys screamed as she lost all courage again, and then took cover beside the couch. Down below they could hear scraping noises and guessing it was the doors now sliding across the tile floor.

"ALPHY…ALPHY!" a female voice was booming from down stairs.

By the tone of the voice, Arial guessed it must belong to Undyne. She closed her eyes for a moment as she took a deep breath. It was time. She casually walked over to Alphys, placed a skeleton hand near her yellow horns, and pats her on the head. She could hear the older woman mumbled something in a low voice, but couldn't make it out.

"I will go first" Arial smiled as she started walking away from Alphys, but stop as she felt something grab the bottom of her short black dress. Looking down she could see older woman hands grasping the fabric while shaking her head 'no'. Arial was not a child anymore. It was time to face the world and stand on her own two feet. She sighs as she rips her dress out of Alphys' claws. "Don't worry. She's your friend right… When you're ready, you can join us." she spoke in confidence as she pulled a huge black hood over her head. Her human-skeleton face was now complete hidden as she slowly walked down the steps.

She appeared to be calm, but her heart was pounding as fast as hummingbird wings with each step she took. Her heart felt like it was about to leap out of her throat when she finally spotted the blue water monster. Ariel stood near the bottom of the steps as she watched Undyne looking under computer tables, still calling Alphys' name. "Miss Undyne….Can I help you?"

Undyne snapped her head towards the direction of the voice with a little smile on her face. The happy expression change into anger as she realized that voice was not Alphys, but belong to the hooded thing. Her uncovered eye glared at the girl while bright blue light formed into spear in her hand. "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DID YOU DO TO ALPHY?"

"I'm Arial…We talked on the phone. Don't worry…" She tried answered the question, but she was cut off as a blue light missed the side of her face. "She…" Another spear went flying this time aimed for her head. Lucky for Arial she moved out of the way in time as she leaped and slammed herself into the tile floor. Was Undyne trying to kill her? The older woman hasn't seen her face yet so what was her problem. Whatever it was, Arial was not going to be someone's punching bag. Purple light glowed from her right hand. She quickly rolled across the floor before jumping to her feet while blue spears showed overhead. The attack was blocked as staff like object appeared in her bony fingers. The spears were sent flying into glass, tiles, wall, and right into the main computer.

"O..boy." Arial gasped for air as she looked at the computer while her right hand was gripping a scythe fused of bones and large crow skull with sharp curved metal shape for the beak. She still had a battle at hand, but she was a bit worried with what Alphys was going do when she discovered giant cracks in her computer. "Um…Miss..Undyne…woo"

Undyne sent another shower of spears at the black hooded girl. While she was distracted she ran in top speed and punches the girl into the stomach. Arial went flying in the air dropping her scythe on the ground. Her body rolled a few times before it came to complete stop. "I hate them all" a tiny angry child voice echoed inside Arial's head. Her mind became fussy as everything around her slowly became hazy. Only thoughts she was left with, was to kill Undyne. She leaned on her elbows looking up at her attacker while blood dripped down the side of her lip. Her purple eye was shining from under her hood. "Want to dance?" she asked waving for Undyne to come at her

Undyne wasn't captain of the guards for nothing. Her strength was unbelieved, but she could tell Arial was not going to give up. An evil smirk spreads across her face. She could hear Undyne laughing hysterically as she walks slowly over to girl with a big grin on her face holding a spear. Arial acted quickly as she reached out and grabbed her scythe. Sparks of blue and purple appeared as the two weapons grind against each other. Another blue spear appeared aiming for Arial's head. Arial leaned down this time as she heard her hood seams being ripped part. Before she could react again, she felt something tugging on her black hair while a boot jabbed her hard in the jawline. The girl screamed while waving her scythe wildly to get Undyne away from her.

Undyne laughed while she dodges the blade, the battle had gone on so long she was starting to forget why she was fighting or where she was, in the first place. Her opponent had an impressive weapon, but she had no combat skills. No matter how many times the scythe blade cut her, it was compared to getting a paper cut to her hard fish scale body. She could see the human…..skeleton…wearing down as her breathing had become heavy. "Wait….What" she yelled as she final noticing her opponent's facial feature.

A fiery purple light beamed from Arial's eye socket as she hit Undyne in the face with the bottom handle of her scythe. She could feel her body shaking for her to stop, but her soul kept her driving forward. Laughing at the water monster's pain.

Undyne grunted a little from the impacted as her blue hand reached out grabbing the girl by her human arm, pulling her off her feet. There was something wrong with her opponent, it was not her features. She could feel a blood lust and anger, resonating from the girl's soul. Sharp finger nails pierced into human flesh causing Arial to yelp in pain. She used her bare feet to push against Undyne's black tank top. In another attempt to get away from her grip, she lifted her scythe up before swinging it down to hit her opponent in the shoulder blade.

Undyne screamed in pain while she grabbed tightly onto the staff part of the girl's weapon before tossing Arial cross the room into a glass cabinet. Undyne took back what she said early about the girl. "She does have some skill, but she's still an amateur. Maybe with a little training….." Wait what she was thinking? She was a hum…on…whatever the girl was she was her enemy….Right?

Arial gasped in pain as shards of glass showered around her as her body smashed into the glass cabinet. She fell hard onto to the tile floor, laying there like lump clay with her eye closed. She slowly opened her eye as purple light fad from her eye socket. Blood dripped down her right side while she noticed a large piece of glass was wedge in her skeletal rib cage. Even if it was just made out of bone, the scraping on her bone caused pain during impacted. All she could do was gasp for air as heavy footsteps walked towards her. She's not sure what happen to Undyne and her mind is still a little fuzzy. She had a bad feeling she was the cause of it. Ariel had no more magic to fight back; she was not going to give up. Painfully reaching into her ribs, she pulled out a large glass shard. Grasping it tightly waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

"Is that all you kid?...Weak" Blood dripped from Undyne's shoulder as she slowly walked toward her prey. Now that the girl was out of magic, the scythe disappeared into a puff of purple smoke. A blue light formed in both the warrior's hands as it formed into spears. It was time to finish this. She leaned over Arial's body while using her boot to flip the girl onto her back. Undyne pushed hard into girl's chest to pin her down to the ground while two blue spears pointed at the girl's heart.

"Un…Und…UNDYNE STOP!" a female voice cried from other side of the laboratory.

Undyne snapped her attention away from her prey to face toward the voice. There before them was her beloved yellow reptile friend. "Alphy" both girls called while Undyne's weapons disappeared and Arial lost her grip on the glass shard.

Tears dripped down the side of Alphys face as she quickly made her way to her loved ones. She paid no mind to the broken glass, smashed machines or cracks in the tiles. All she wanted to do was heal their wounds. Seeing them covered in blood and their clothing ripped was crushing her heart. Why didn't she come down sooner, before it got out of hand? She quickly looked at Undyne with disappointed eyes before turning her attention to the one that needed medical treatment the most. She sat down on her knees as she placed her large yellow hand on Arial's head. She looked right into the girl's eyes to see that her purple iris was filled with sadness and kindness as it was looking back at her. "It's all…right…..Mom's here." She spoke in a gentle voice as a green light glowed from her hand.

"ALPHY, what are you doing? Wait did you just call yourself….Mom" Undyne asked in puzzled voice. Not sure why her friend was upset with her. She was a warrior and it was her duty to fight the enemy. Then again she could have been wrong about this situation the whole time. When Undyne looked at the human-monster child, she didn't sense the blood lust anymore. It was like there was a completely different girl in front of her.

Alphys sighed as she looked back at Undyne. She couldn't stay mad at her forever. It was partly her fault too for keeping Arial a secret all those years. She was just scared that someone would take her child away. Alphys smiled a bit as she watched the cuts on Arial; magically close up as if nothing ever happened. "She's…my…adopted daughter….I'm sorry, I didn't tell you sooner. I was scared of….this." her eye lids lowered in shame.

Undyne's head felt like it was on a spin cycle and couldn't comprehend what she was being told. Where would Alphys get a daughter with those looks? Wait she was a scientist, maybe she created her? The only stuff Undyne ever saw Alphys make was mechanical stuff. Was she that smart to create life? "I'm….SORRY." she yelled while placing a hand on her bleeding shoulder. "…So….Why does she look human and skeleton at same time…Did you create her?"

"No" Alphys replied looking down at Arial seeing the girl was about to speak up. The mother figure hushed her while placing her claw lightly on the girl's lip. "Please …don't speak….Save your energy….Dr. Gaster ….he's the one that created her to break the barrier….I'm not sure what happen….This poor child…I found her locked up in the lab alone…I known I should have turned her over to King Dreemurr ….But I just couldn't….She's just a child, Undyne," tears formed under Alphys' eyes, remembering how weak and fragile Arial was when they first meet.

If it was Undyne that found the child, she would have turned her over in a heartbeat. It was her duty as a royal guard, to take humans to the King. Arial definitely had human and lust to kill, where did it go? Maybe it was her imagination the girl was trying to kill her earlier. Dear sweet Alphys on the other hand, had courage to keep the girl safe, even if the King demanded that all human children were to be brought to him. Undyne was a little upset with her best friend for keeping this big secret until now. She could understand why and she couldn't be mad at that cutie forever. "Wow! Alphy! YOU'RE A HERO!" She laughed while placing her hands on her hips and threw her head back. She laughed her head off like mad woman until she couldn't breathe anymore. "You Got Guts! I would have never done that…..I'm sorry kid…It was Arial, right?" she grinned, leaning down to hold her hand out for girl to take.

"It's finally nice to meet you, Ms. Undyne. You're as strong as Alphys said…..I'm sorry about the shoulder." Arial weakly smiled as she took hold the extended hand. She didn't remember attacking Undyne, but she could feel it was her own fault. She wanted to ask them what happen, but her heart was telling her not to question it. Funny how one moment they were battling to death and now it seemed they were becoming friends. Her shy mother had a strange taste in picking friends.

"Don't worry it's just a scratch…I'm Undyne the Undying. Nothing can truly harm me," a smirk appeared across her face which showed off her sharp teeth.

Alphys smiled as she placed a hand over both girls' hands. "It's…your turn, Undyne…." Her face turned a light shade of pink as Undyne let her place her hand on her shoulder. Green light glowed over the wounded shoulder as water monster rub against her Alphys' yellow horns. "Un…Undyne!"

"Sorry" Undyne pulled way with a smile on her face. What was she thinking? She just destroyed Alphys' home and hurt her daughter. She couldn't help it, dino girl smelled so good next to her. "If Dr. Gagster made you…Does that mean Papyrus is….. Wait does you known who, I'm talking about?" she asked trying to distract her mind from the lovely monster shyly touching her fish scales.

"I do" Arial sighed as she carefully stood up and brushed broken glass off her before taking a seat next to the two older women. "My creator…I mean Dr. Gaster, used his DNA and human DNA to create me. I'm not sure where he got human DNA or how he did it….The earliest memory I have is waking up to a sleeping skeleton, holding me like an infant. He was sound asleep in his office chair. When I tried moving, I had no strength in my body or voice to wake him….When he finally woke up and noticed me looking at him…he hugged me. He keeps repeating 'it finally worked,' He never told me why he said that. I guess he thought it was not important…" She smiled a bit as she wrapped her arms around herself as a warm memory of Gaster hugging her washed over her soul. "I was never allowed to leave the lab and there were times he was gone for days. He always promised to come back. I believed him, because he always did…..He helped me learn to walk and talk. He was a bit surprised when I was able to summon magic. So he showed me how to turn magic into a weapon…..One day I had the courage to ask where he went, when he left me alone…That day I learned words like, father and sons. He explained what they meant. When I asked him if he was my father… He said….NO...He was my creator and I was his experiment. Those words hurt, but I didn't understand why at the time….." Arial's head sunk into her knees while tears pour from her eye.

"Arial….y...you can stop, dear…" Alphys said remembering the rest of the story. She placed a hand on the girl's black hair as she tries comforting her. "She was….only a child, w-who loved Dr. Gaster dearly…Calling her a test subject was….just…mean…." she spoke in disappointment and anger.

"Let me guess Arial, you went along with his work because deep down you thought it was the only way to get his attention?" Undyne said remembering when she was a teenager and the awful things she did to try to get her parent's attention.

Arial nodded before continuing her story. "Yes…In the end it never worked….During his last experiment, he disappeared...My memory is a bit fuzzy with what happen. All I know is that I was left alone in a dark lab until Alphy found me….I was finally able to have a family…..I know what you're thinking, But there is a lot of messy details I'm leaving out and I wish to forget….I don't think I could ever be able to meet Sans and Papyrus… ever. Look at me, I'm…I'd rather hide from…my… brothers…than destroy their memory of their father….I wish things were different…" more tears streamed down her face as Undyne placed a hand on Arial's back while rubbing in a comforting motion.

"I promise not to tell…..So….Alphy, how about some anime?" Undyne asked hoping that something light hearted could wash away a little bit of the depressing atmosphere. The anime nerd nodded her head while she stood up and ran as fast as she could, on her short stubby legs. Undyne looked back down at the child, scooped her up, and placed Ariel over her shoulder. "Cheer up kid….If you want a strong dad…I could play the part." She joked in a quiet voice as she jogs up the steps that led to the television area.

"What about the mess?" Arial smiled a bit holding on to the back of Undyne's ripped black tank top.

"THAT'S FUTURE UNDYNE'S PROBLEM…." She laughed taking a seat next to Alphys on the coach while she placed Arial between her legs. "NOW START THE SHOW, ALPHY."

"Alright!" Alphys said, excitedly. She lightly blushed while looking at her two girls next to her. She didn't want to say it out loud, but it felt and looked like they were a family…an odd one, for sure. She turned her face away from the wishful though as she pressed the play button on the DVD player. After that no one said a word for hours as the colorful bright light flashed in their eyes and happy music made them forget their worries.


	6. Chapter 5

Nails, screeched as a tiny bony hand, clawed at the metal door, echoing into a human-skeleton child's head. Maybe if she keeps at it, she could wear the door down and make a hole for her to crawl out to freedom. Overhead she could see the light staring to get dimmer as the laboratory was slowly losing power. She wasn't scared of the dark; it was the fact that she was alone. The only person who cared for her and knew her whereabouts, disappear from this world. In her heart, she was sure he was alive just not in this space of time. The only thing she had left of him was the dirty old lab coat which was lying next to her feet. It was hopeless. No one was coming to save her. What was the point? She tried banging on the door until her human knuckles turned bloody red. She also tried screaming at the top of her lungs, causing discomfort sore throat. Now her distal phalanges were brittle from grinding into the metal over and over, she wondered if they would crack. Tears streamed down the side of her cheek while wiping her bloody hand, onto her hospital gown. Looking at the fresh bloody hand prints over dry ones on the door, saddened her soul. Escape was never possible. Why did her creator have to make a exit door that required a secret code to open?

The lights flicker a few more times before the last of the backup generator, died. Leaving the girl in a pitch black hallway of silence. Sighing, as she carefully kneeled down onto the cold tile floor, with her back to the metal door. The laboratory was in the pitch black now. She started skimming the floor until the feel of cotton fabric, brushed against her human hand. Pulling the lab coat over her lap, she hugged it tightly. Gently pressed it into her face while breathing in the deep scent of cigarettes mixed with her creator's own smell, which reminded her of ketchup. The silence was broken when her stomach started to growl, after imagining ketchup. When was the last time she had eaten, a few days go…..week ago? When did the food run out? The time and days were starting to blend together, so she couldn't remember.

Her eyes where heavy and her inside were hungry. Previously trying to heal the blister on her skin drained all the magic from inside. Trying to walk to the kitchen in the dark would be dangerous and she could end up lost. Wondering which she would die from first a wound or starvation. Her mind was pulled away from the question as a mysterious smooth-lump object, tapped her human foot. She leaned over and reached blindly to find it. Trying to figure out what it was, she picked up the object while inspected it with her hand. Carefully biting into the object, sweet juices dripped down the side of her lip, an apple? She tried to focus her eye to the darkness, in attempt to figure out where it came from.

"Howdy….Do you LOVE…my gift...?" a creepy childlike voice spoke happily to her. "If you promise to be good…..I will show you a way out" She threw the apple in the direction of the voice "OUCH!" it hissed, "That's no way to treat your friend after bringing you…. A Gift!" it hissed in anger.

The human-skeleton gasped as she felt smooth rope like object wrap around her left leg. She started to scream as the thing wrap tighter and tighter around her leg. It dragged her across the floor as if she were a rag doll, being mistreated by its owner.

"I will teach you a lesson….What's wrong? cat got your tongue….Subject Two!"

She bit her lip trying to block the pain while using her free leg to kick at the thing grasping onto her. She had to get away. Closing her eye, she collected all the magic she had. Suddenly, purple lights formed in her skeleton hand and transformed into a bone staff with a curved sharpened end. "You're not my friend" her voice cracked as she raised her hand up and swiped her captor off her leg, causing it to lose grip of her.

"YOU BITch!" The voice cried with a mix of pain as it slowly vanished from ear shot.

The girl clawed and brushed her hand on the floor, in frenzy, trying to find the lab coat that was dropped during the attack. It was all she had left of him. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the feel of familiar fabric at her fingertips, filled her with relief. Pulling it into her chest, she rolled into a ball. Letting sleep take her while thinking of being in her creators paternal arms.

The light of Hotland shined on Arial's eye lid causing her to slowly open them. She sighed in relief that was all a dream. It was strange, this was the second time in a row, she dreamt of the past. Was this a sign that something unexpected was going to happen soon?

A knock on the door pulled Arial, out of her thoughts. She flipped her Mew Mew Kiss bed sheets off before getting out of bed. "I will be out in a minute" her voice muffled as a black nightgown was pulled over her face, and then tossed on the floor. Casually, she walked over to a mirror hanging from sliding metal doors that lead to the closet. She ransacked through her closet until coming across the blouse, skirt, and tights which all matched her raven black hair. Looking into the mirror, she braided her long hair. The final touch was dark gray robe that was hanging on the door that lead to the hallway. "Ready" she called, while opening the door to find a worried Alphys.

"Are you going out?" Alphys asked, noticing that her child resembled The River Person, but with a slimmer body.

"After yesterday, I need bit of fresh air...A greasy Hamburger and fries sound good." Arial said leaving out the part that she really wanted to get drunk. "Is Miss Undyne…."Arial was cut off as they heard a crashing sound, coming from the main area of the laboratory. "I'm guessing that's her?" placing her hands over the fabric area that covered her left ear.

"Y…es…..She insisted … fixing it on her own." Alphys replied in a scared-saddened voice as she had regret letting her friend help fixing the lab. Undye was as strong as an ox, but was not a handyman. Alphys tried telling her no, but the thought of the hot red head's muscles glistening from sweat and wearing only a sports bra, made dino monster's inside tingle. The longer the image dwelled in her mind, the more her flushed pink color spread across her yellow scaly face. The sound of breaking glass and hearing her name called over and over brought her back to reality. It sounded like her lab was under attack and Undyne was the wrecking ball.

"Um…Should I stay? Sounds like she needs help." Arial asked walking beside Alphys as they head towards the loud noises. Whatever that sounds was it was not good. She really didn't want to come home later to a pile of rubble on fire. She laughed bit when noticing Undyne trying to use a fire extinguisher to put out the main computer. The poor water monster was covered in more wet foam than the fire.

"No it's alright….I'm calling a contractor now." Alphys replied waving her hands before pulling her pink phone out of her lab coat. Biting the bottom of her lip, she tried to not laugh at the blazing display going on beside them. "Be careful" she said with her hands covering her mocking face from view. Alphys watched her daughter as she walk out through the laboratory door and out in the Hotlands heat.

"Are you sure it's alright….After what you told me last night?" Undyne asked Alphys in a low voice only for her to hear, while looking toward the door as well. She reached around her back and took a towel that was hanging from her back pocket. "What if she blanks out again?" She asked while rubbing her face clean.

"I'm sure….it will…..be alright." Alphys spoke in a nervous voice, not sure of her own words. "If she does get out of hand, I will….." her eyes sadden at the thought of what she would do if it came to that.

"Don't worry you're not alone." Undyne said standing behind Alphys as she pulled her crush into a messy foamy embrace. Alphys then finally burst into the laughter she had held back while Undyne wasn't sure what she was laughing about.


	7. Chapter 6

**((OOC: If you would like learn more about HeartTale** **, Sans and Papyrus pleases visit "Undertale AU Hearttale Characters Profiles"))**

It was a beautiful day with the birds singing and the flowers blooming. On days like this, the streets of New Home would have been a joyful place full of children playing and laughing, lovey dove couples walking together hand in hand, and a marketplace filled with delicious food to buy. Instead of the place being overcrowded, it was empty, abandoned, and quite. Except for two souls, inside the castle's walls.

All monsters had been evacuated to an unknown region of the underground. All for the sake of one single human child, had gained the power and will to destroy all living things in their path. In order for them to escape the underground and pass through the barrier, they needed to take the king's soul with them, to access the Surface. Then the child would have freedom to destroy this world or reset the timeline.

Within the castle, was a corridor lit up with yellow-hued colors cascading from large windows, engraved with "Delta rune". White light shone through the stain glass windows, casting a bright glow upon a short teenage skeleton's, skull. He's not of royal blood, nor royal guard. He had no right to be here, but no one could stop him from entering. Behind him, was the doors which lead to the throne room where King Dreemurr had been waiting.

The young skeleton sighed as he leaned against a pillar while placing his hands into his blue winter jacket. This was not the first time the human that called themselves "Frisk", played this game of "kill or be killed. What got under the Skeleton's skin the most about the human children, were the ones who could reset the timeline and go back to the beginning where they first fell in the Underground. There were timelines similar to this, where the Kid had the guts to pick a bone with everyone and murder them in cold blood. The poor Skeleton had been doomed with the power to remember every timeline, good or bad.

The skeleton tried killing the human child many times, but even upon death, the Kid could still reset everything. In the beginning, it felt like his job had been to seek revenge for his fallen friends and judge the human's soul. If Frisk ended up going down the genocide route, it was up to him to give the kid a bad time and taste of justice. It had to of been over 9,000 times, living the timeline over and over. With barely any hope left in his bones. The only thing that kept him from cracking was one wish; to see his younger brother and friends, smile again. Everything else in any world didn't matter anymore. So what was he doing there waiting again for the human to come? Unlike many other monsters, he contained the knowledge of the past timeline. Not having to play the same game over and over again, like a puppet. If he wanted, he could just leave the last corridor and let the human freely walk into the throne to kill…..No he couldn't let that child have their way that easily. What if this was the last timeline and it never reset again? He couldn't live with himself knowing he failed all his friends who died. Knowing that brother killer was still living was eating away what was left of his soul.

This time, the skeleton was not going to play by the human's rules. No more talking, and no more giving the Kid second chances. He is going to murder that demon as soon as he spotted them. Sure, once upon a time in another timeline, they were best friends. That was before the Kid sold his soul to the devil and started killing monsters.

Sans raised his left hand up in the air as white lights in his eye socket disappeared and blue light formed in his left eye shock. Above his head was his most powerful weapon, Gaster Blaster. A ghastly ghost shaped skull with two eyes that glowed the same blue as it master's eye. The skeleton could now hear the demon child's tiny little footsteps coming closer and closer as they skipped merrily towards him.

"WOW, Sansy! No stupid monologue this time." A wicked child, wearing blue and purple striped shirt, giggled as they noticing a light beam forming inside the Gaster Blaster's mouth. The skeleton monster before them didn't speak a word as he waved his hand down, a beam of light blasted from within the large weapon's mouth, aimed at the child. Lovely stone floor around them, smashed into rumble, leaving clouds of smoke and dust in the air. Sans was trapped in a dust fog as his head darted around, looking for the demonic child. The only thing he could hear was a creepy laugh that echoed off the walls.

"Too Slow." the demon child sang as a shadow figure pushed through the fog and kicked Sans in the skull, causing a tiny crack to form. The skeleton pays no attention to the pain as a blue flame bursts out of his skull, completely covering his left eye socket. Blue light glowed upon Frisk's small human chest as Sans took hold of their soul. Tossing them face first into a nearby pillar then slamming them into another.

"Why don't you die?!.." Sans screamed but stopped as he heard laughter coming from the demonic child. "When did this kid become a masochist?" he thought as he pulled the child away from the pillar and turned them face him _._ Under all the blood upon Frisk, he noticed rosy pink cheeks, a bloody smile of a killer, and cold eyes staring right through him. "I see….So, this Kid is not playing today."

"Nope…Frisk is kind of mad at me right now…..That's alright, I learned a new trick. Want see?" The devil child grin was growing wider as a ring of purple light formed around their deep red iris. Out of thin air, skeleton bones with sharp points appeared in front of the devil child. "Cool, right?"

Sans was speechless as he looked at the sight before him. The human was using skeleton magic, but how? When Frisk killed monsters, they gained strength not magic. Could this be what happens to someone when they reach ultimate power of LOVE? "How?" was all Sans could muster as he felt the devil child's soul, pushing his magical psychokinesis away from their demon soul.

The demonic child smirked as they formed some bones under them to break their fall. Facing Sans, they pointed the sharp end of a floating bone, at the skeleton. Sans reciprocating with his magic as well. The halls become a battle field as a purple and blue magical bone flew the air, causing some damage toward each opponent's side. Windows smashed into millions of pieces and orange stoned flooring, turned into rubble. Either side was not letting up

Sans broke away from the battle as he grabbed his chest. He could feel his soul was almost out of magic. Unlike the demon child, he didn't have as much energy. Sans could gain more if he took lives before the battle started, but he was not a killer. The only life he would take was the brother killer, before him. He just had enough strength to create one last Gaster. Blue light formed around his body. "Get du…" the words where cut off as Sans felt a large blade crack through the center of his skull. His vision became blurry, only making out a silhouette of a figure that appeared to be tiny Death, standing before him. Darkness covered him as his soul slipped into quietness of nothing.

A tiny dot of light appeared in each of the skeleton's eye sockets. The danger around Sans was gone now. Safely laying on top of his broken mattress. It had all been a nightmare of another timeline. He rolled over on the mattress and looked around his bedroom. Crumbled up pieces of paper all over the floor and a long dresser with a floor lamp placed on top of it. Everything was the same old bedroom. Placing his hand on the floor, he felt around for his cell phone then clicked on the power to display the date and time on a lock menu. He kind of hated talking on the phone. Unless he was making prank calls, He'd rather talk to someone face to face. There were other times like this it came in handy. If the phone was working like it should, then today was only the second day after Frisk fell into the Underground Ruins. Which meant that the human would be in Snowdin sometime in the afternoon. No telling until then, which route the Kid would take. Sans hated waiting, but there was nothing he could do. Trying to do a Short Cut, wouldn't work. The only way he could teleport is if he had been in that location before. The Ruins had always been locked, so walking in was out of the question too. So until that Kid shows up, Sans would have to play along with the same routine he had lived over nine thousand times "Three…Two….One."

"Sans, you lazy bones get up! Don't make us late for work today!" a voice shouted from the other side of San's bedroom door.

"Can't Paps…..I don't have the muscles to move." Sans chuckled as he slipped his boney feet into a pair of pink slippers. Again why does he keep following the same path each time? He was cursed to remember each timeline, why didn't he use to his advantage? No one said he had to play by some unknown rule. Deep down he just wanted go back to sleep and never wakeup. If that's what he wanted, then so be it. Sans flopped himself back onto the mattress while he pulled his covers over his head to block out the sunlight.

"SANS!" a voice yelled as a taller slender skeleton with body armor, bursts into San's room and walked over to the so called bed.

"Papyrus!" Sans gasped as a bed sheet was pulled off of him. There was a reason he ketp going and played by the timeline rules. His younger brother wasn't cursed like him, so his soul was still pure and innocent. Sans wanted to keep it that way. Worrying his brother would just put stress on both of them. But he did wish there were someone he could trust and knew about the timeline, to help him figure a way out. In the last timeline, that demon child had monster's power. If a human could do that, was there a way for a monster to steal a human's magical gift?

"Don't worry, I THE GREAT PAPYRUS will make sure we both get to work on time" Papyrus said picking up Sans and carried him over his shoulder like a giant bag of flour. He didn't put his big brother down until they were both standing in front of their house, in the snow.

"Wow, It's bone chilly out here." Sans remarked while making his bones rattled to go along with his pun. He could see in the corner of his eye socket, Papyrus face palmed himself from the older skeleton's lame joke. Sans chuckled as he walked behind his brother, making their way to the first Snowdin post, outside the Ruins. While they walked, Sans tried to remember every detail of his last battle with the human. Everything seemed to be in order in the last timeline, until Sans decided to skip over his line about the birds, flowers, and sending the kid to hell. That shouldn't have effect anything, it was just words. No, that Kid was the one who changed the outcome of the timeline ending, by doing something different before they came to the last corridor. He's very sure the Kid was using skeleton magic, but to San's knowledge, Papyrus and him where the last skeleton monsters. Did they gain that power after killing Papyrus? No that couldn't be right either, his little brother's power glowed orange, not purple. Could that be possible, after killing all that monsters over and over in different timelines resulted in the Kid's soul turning him into a monster? Humans were just like skeleton, but with flesh and organs. It may explain why the Kid was able to use magic and summon bones. But Sans always thought that Frisk and demon child inside of them had red souls due to their determination. Then again humans were fickle creatures that change their mind about things at a drop of a hat. One moment they are your best pal, next thing you know they're turning all your friends, into dust.

"SANS…..SANS…Are you listening…." Papyrus spoke in a worried voice as he looked over his shoulder to see his older brother lost in thought and drag his feet in the snow. This was not like Sans at all, not crack a few puns while Papyrus was trying talk to him. Maybe his brother was sick? Maybe that's why he was difficult to get out of bed and so silent, now. Skeletons couldn't get colds, but too much stress on their soul, could make them sick. Was Papyrus pushing his brother to hard? When the last time was those two had a vacation or a day off from work and school? The younger brother placed his gloved hand under his chin bone as he pondered that question "Did Sans have a day off, last week….no that didn't feel right….three weeks ago maybe…..no….last year?….." it was as if Papyrus' soul was telling him all those answers where wrong, but he was sure Sans was not a workaholic. His older brother was lazy, but then again, Papyrus didn't know what Sans did when they were not together. "Is your soul alright brother...If somethings wrong you can tell me…I'm here to help?" Papyrus asked placing a gloved hand on Sans's shoulder bone.

Crap, Sans messed up big time. He had been so lost in a train of thought that he forgot to say all of his lines. Now he was faced with worry little brother. Quickly looking around his surrounding, he tries to remember what Papyrus talked about when they were around this point of their walk. Only seeing snow and trees around them, "Dammit" he though. There was no landmark to tell him what part of the path they were on. "Sorry Paps, if I gave you the cold shoulder…I was having a nice cold dream"

"SANS? Did you do that on purpose?" Papyrus asked pulling away from his brother with puzzlement in his voice.

"I though you would like it more if I was bone quite….I guess you can't get enough of me tickling your funny bone." He chuckled as he placed his hands into his blue jacket while shrugging his shoulders. "Chill out bro I'm…ice-o-k." Sans, kicking some snow up in the air.

"Neeeee….Don't you ever run out of puns, Sans."

"Nope….I'm a funny bone master of punny-ies."

"Pleases, stop….."

"Sure thing, bone brother"

"Sanssssssssssssss…ugh"

"Alright….Alright….." Sans picked up the pace so he could walk beside Papyrus. Taking his special Short Cuts, would have got them there faster, but that would cut down on time he spent with his brother. As they get there….

"Sans, I'm going to go recalibrate my puzzles now...You can keep watch at your station until I get back. Call me if you see a Human come. I want be the one to capture them. SO I THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CAN BECOME A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD. I will get everything I want... respect...recognition...and bathe in a shower of kisses, every morning" the younger brother giggled as he placed his red gloved hands on his cheek bones. If skeletons could blush, his face would be red as a tomato as he images a pink and black male android lying in his sports car bed, kissing every inch of his bones.

"Ummm…Paps….Bro….Pleases get your bones out the gutter!" Sans yelled as he gently kicked Papyrus in the tibia. He didn't have to be a mind reader to known what his brother was thinking of. Whenever his younger monster thought of his crush, his eye socket would light up with tiny orange hearts. Sans hated knowing that his younger brother was secretly dating an adult monster. It's not because they were both males, Sans himself swung both ways. It was the fact that Papyrus was still a "kid" that needs protecting from big bad wolves, who want to chew on his bones. Sans wanted to keep Papyrus innocent as long as he could.

"Sorry, brother….I just…"

"Don't worry Paps…Come on we have tons of work… skele-ton….Left to do."

"SANS!….Alright I will be going now… Nyeheheheheheeeeeee…" Papyrus laughed as he walked away leaving Sans all alone at his station.

Sans waved to his brother as he watched him disappear behind a pile of snow. He sighed a bit as he took a seat inside his station. It was still early in the morning and would be hours before he spotted the human child. Sans folds his arms as placed them on the edge of the station window and lay his skull on top. Last night's dream left him bone tired. This is about the time he would take a nap. He was too tensed to fall asleep after what happen in the last timeline. His soul was feeling a little under the weather and need some TLC. Maybe he should abandon his post for the morning, Have a few drinks, and maybe if certain flaming male monster wants to rattle his bones. He'd be up for some Sriracha Ketchup time.


	8. Chapter 7

**((OOC: If you would like learn more about HeartTale Grillby, pleases visit "Undertale AU Hearttale Characters Profiles"))**

Light puffy flakes; fell from the sky, covering Mount Ebot in a fresh coat of snow. Out of nowhere, a wild gust of wind pushed snowflakes down the freezing cavern, too small for any human child to fit. The flakes traveled down deep, discovering an opening that lead into "Snowdin". Down below, Ariel was caught in a snow storm, and kneeled on the ground like she were a hunchback. Gripping hard on the edge of her hood, she kept an eye from being blinded by the snow, while crunching through the snow. Pushing her way through, not noticing how cold her hands were. Hand reached out for the door knob to her favorite place to eat, Grillby's. It was a place to drink your sorrows away and hang out with lively bunches of monsters. The homely décor was also welcoming if monsters are looking for greasy food to comfort their soul.

Arial slipped into the warm tavern and started dusting the snow off her robe. She quietly made her way pass monsters laughing their heads off and cheering as they clinked glasses together. She took a seat next to a female red bird monster, after finally making it to the bar.

"Hey, there River…Pers…Man…Girl?" the bird hiccupped before taking another sip of wine then placing a hand on Arial's shoulder, pulling her in close. "Grillby! Your boy…girl…friend is here." She teased, trying to form a smile with that orange beak, stained from wine.

The stool squeaked a bit as Arial used her body strength, to pushed away from this drunken bird. It was amazing how intoxicated a monster can get even if the tavern just opened a few hours ago. She just wants a burger and maybe fries, before heading home. A little tired of Alphys' instant noodle, but that couldn't be helped since they didn't own an oven. You can only do so much with a microwave. Out of nowhere, her wish was granted, as an orange-yellow fiery hand, placed a plate of food in front of the hooded girl. Turning her head to the side while pulling hard on her hood, she hid her blushing face. 'Thanks…Grillbz", she spoke in a shy, gentle voice.

No one could see through all the flames, but Grillby was smiling on the inside, by the sound of Arial's sweet voice, speaking his name. This is why he loved mornings, the most. It's the only time in the day that he would expect her to come into the tavern. One time he asked, why does she only come in the morning? The only reply was that, she wanted to avoid seeing a lazy monster, she wished to never meet. Grillby only knew one lazy monster, but Sans was a cool guy.

"The meal is on the house, if you take off that robe." Grillby joked, watching her hand reach for the burger. Quickly slipping the plate out of her reach, he placed his elbow on the bar table while resting his head in the palm of his hand. Even if she hides her face, it was noticeable that she wasn't wearing black gloves and her right bony hand was in plain view, now. Such a lovely bony hand. He predicted she was a skeleton monster. That wouldn't be a problem. There were times he and Sans would full around, after closing hours. Thanks to that, he learned what places skeletons loved to be touched. The fire monster's flames turned a deep shade of red as he imaged Arial's sweet voice, becoming a sexy moan. Letting go of the plate of food, he quickly turned away from his customers, and started messing with liquor bottles then started wiping smudges off the wine glass.

"I'd rather pay", Arial spoke in an annoyed voice while moving her food back in front of her. Every time this pass year they were together, he would try to get her to reveal her face. Almost seems like it's become a game to him. Grillby almost won the last time when he sweep her off her feet and started to dances with her. Then out of nowhere, trying to dip Arial, as an attempt to lose her hood. She had to kick him in the balls and slam her scythe into the jukebox. Quickly looking over at the jukebox, she discovered it still had a big gash in it. She wasn't proud of her actions at that time, but didn't want to ruin their friendship.

Grillby sighed as he placed a strawberry virgin daiquiri, in front of his crush. He failed again at seeing her face. There was always next time. He didn't want to anger her more, since she just got there, so he let it go...for now. It seemed the longer the wait, the more he was falling in love with her. It wasn't love at first sight or anything. They had been friends, going on six years now. Mostly just seeing her when she came to visit the tavern. In the beginning, he mistook Ariel, as "the River Person", until spotting her talking to the real River Person, on their boat. Which lead to asking for her name and number, but only getting her name. The Red Bird once asked, what's Grillby's attraction with someone too scary, to show their face. Only answer he could think of was how much he loved her heavenly voice. He was not sure if anyone was aware of this, but Arial could sing like a goddess. Her voice expressed it all, it wasn't necessary to observe her face. Even if curiosity got the better of him. One of his jobs as a bartender was to be a good listener and not judge others by their looks. Arial's soul was what he fell in love with, so he didn't care what she looked like. "On the House" he spoke in a sorry tone for upsetting her earlier, while carefully patting the top of her hooded head.

"Come on we all want to see!" a few monsters sitting on stools, cried in disappointment that the bartender gave up so easy. "We all want to know what the "River Person", looks like!"

"No!" Arial snapped in anger as she pulled her hood down before anyone could try to pull at it. Turning away from the bar table, she was about to place her feet on the ground and get the heck out of there. Suddenly, a splash of cold liquid, dripped on the back of her robe, just as she felt something hot, grab her by the arm. Looking down, she sees fiery hands, tightly grasping her. Now looking at the bar table, sees that her daiquiri had been knocked over, leaving a pink layer of ice, on a now soggy burger bun. She was getting a little tired of this. Deep down, she knew sooner or later, he was going to witness the same abomination, she saw. If he was a real friend, he would be accepting, like Alphys and Undyne. Sighing, as she sat comfortably, back on the bar stole. "Just you." She tried to speak in a calm voice, while her heart was beat in fear of losing him.

The fire monster loosen his grip, then took a few steps back. Did she just say she would…. He quickly cleaned the mess in front of her. Those words, sent heat of excitement through Grillby's body, while he ducked down under the bar. "We could go behind the building, but there were too many hours left, before someone would come in and cover my break" his mind raced. "The back was off limits to non-employees, it was bad for a boss to break the rules". He didn't want to pass up this option, what if Arial changes her mind at any moment? He fumbles around in a box, until he found a table cloth. Tossing the cloth over her, he nervously peeked under the cloth, watching her slowly pulling back her hood….

"What a _bone-tiful_ day, for drinking.!"


	9. Chapter 8

Cheerful shouting filled the air in Grillby's, as monsters greeted the favorite Snowdin skeleton. The short skeleton waved at a few monsters and made his away to the bar. It was the first time he came to the tavern this early. Most mornings, would have been spent lying on the couch or taking a nap on the job. Papyrus was in such a rush getting Sans to work, that the short skeleton didn't have time to eat breakfast, which would have been Papyrus' spaghetti with boiled eggs. Not realizing how hungry he was until he could smell the French fries as he came through the door.

"Hey Sans, whats a lazy bone like you, doing up?," a bodiless bunny head asked while jumping up and down on the booth table.

"I thought I could start a day early to ketchup up, with Grillbz." Sans chuckled as he picked up the ketchup bottle next to the bunny head's food. The skeleton flipped the cap off before placing it in front his large teeth. "Where is that hot flamer, anyway?" He asked in a puzzled voice, looking at the bar, and noticed the table cloth draped over something lumpy. Red bird giggled as she pointed a feather at the table cloth.

Under the cloth, Arial's heart was pounding like a drum after hearing Sans' voice, nearby. She quickly grabs the end of her hood and pushed Grillby away from her. The poor flame monster only got glimpse of black hair before his body came flying out of hiding. "OUCH" he yelled as his back collided with the liquor cabinet, causing a bottle or few to break. A drop of liquor slowly dripped out from under the cabinet doors. All it took was one drop of alcohol, but it sent Grillby's flaming hair to sizzle out, into high flames, which spooked a few monsters out of their seats.

"Hey there Grillbz….You burning… HOT…today." Sans said as he took a seat at his usually place at the bar. A gulp of ketchup dripped down the side of his skull as he turned his attention to the table cloth next to him. "What's up with Casper?" he asked, noticing the black boots poking out from under the cloth, before using his long neon blue tongue to clean the mess on his skull. Which made a few female monsters tingle in pleasure, at the sight of it.

Grillby sighed as he used the edge of the bar table to help himself off the ground. Out of all the times, Sans had to come in the tavern while Arial and him, was about to share a private moment. There was no telling when he would get that opportune again. Part of him wanted to toss his friend out in the cold for ruining his chance. What a cock blocker. The lights in Sans' eye sockets told Grillbz, Sans needed company. He was willing to help his friend as long as it didn't involve either of them taking off clothes. Sadly, for the skeleton monster, this monster was hoping to spark a flame in someone else's heart today "They're kind of shy around strangers….Do you known any Arial?"

"Nope"

Grillby made a promise not to tell anyone who Arial was, but he needed to get that question out of the way. If Sans didn't known any Arial, then why was his Arial always hiding from the skeleton brothers. The fire monster looked down at the cloth that was still hiding her from view. Sans was known to be very popular with females and some males. He's known to be a lazy cheap skate, but made up with charm, humor, and his playful magic. Grillby noticed he never asked Arial if she had crush on some monster. "Could it be she likes….No…" he thought as he carefully lifted the cloth off of her. If she did have a crush on Sans, then he would just have to work even harder to win her heart.

White light lit up brighter in Sans' eye sockets as he watched Grillby reveal the hooded monster, next to him. What he assumed was the "River Person", but they seemed to be a lot thinner, than usual. "Wait…So the rumors where true?" The skeleton coughed as he dropped a bottle of ketchup he was drinking, onto the floor.

Grillby released the table cloth, letting it drop onto the floor. Looking down, his hooded crush had lay her head on the bar table, while crossing her arms over her head. The fire monster placed a hand on her shoulder. He could feel the poor dear was shivering from fear. He reached out his right free hand and took Arial's hand. Unlike, her left bony hand, this one was fleshy. The hand resembled a human hand. Assuming, cause he'd only seen images of humans, in books. Was this why Arial was scared of meeting Sans? Could she be….a human? It was Papyrus and Sans' job to take humans, to the King. That didn't explain why her other hand was just bones and still able to use it. Grillby's mind was creating all these new thoughts, one after another. It was like one of those mystery TV shows, when you keep changing who you think the killer is. Whatever was going on he had to protect her identity. Personally, the skeleton brothers wear good hearted monster, but Papyrus had a big mouth. Something like this, needs to be kept quiet. Grillby took a step back from the bar table as he reached into his apron and pulled out his fire proof gloves. "You must be cold."

Arial slowly looked up to see Grillby was offering her, gloves. It was a little bit puzzling about the gift, until she reached out to take the gloves. To her horror, she realized the black gloves were not on her hands. Did she forget them at home? Fear washed over her as she quickly put on the gloves that were a bit too large for her female hands. Ariel sat in silent, wondering if Grillby noticed her unmatched hands which is why she was offered, the gloves. He didn't seem upset or scared, just being his sweet old fire monster self. "Thank you" she spoke, in a loving voice while her hidden face, blushed at his gesture.

Grillby nodded his head while placing another bottle of ketchup, in front of Sans. "I never said I had any relationship with the 'River Person'….she is an old friend of mine, from Hotland." He lied, not knowing what region Arial lived in.

"I'm happy to hear, that you don't float down that river." Sans laughed as he twisted off the ketchup cap and peeled off the foil seal. To most monsters, it was just ketchup, a simple condiment to eat on fries or burgers. To this skeleton, it was an addictive drug. It had a sweet and tang taste that reminds him of his childhood. That life has good moments, but also bad moments. No matter how bad things turned out, he just couldn't put the bottle down. Sans loved to relive the sweetness of ketchup each and every time. "Another round?" The skeleton asked holding an empty ketchup bottle by it's rim and waving it in front of Grillby.

The fire monster nods his head as he took the bottle. If Sans was going to drink himself to death on liquefied, sweetened tomatos, then he needed every bottle that was in stock. "I'll get more…..Don't you dare run out on your tab…I known where you live." Grillby partly joked while walking over to the kitchen door and shutting it behind him.

Arial's mind was racing with panic as she watched Grillby disappeared from the room. She was left alone with the one monster she wished never to see. Part of her wanted to dash right out of the tavern and never look back. Leaving now, might make Sans suspicious of who she is and follow her. For now, she had to try and stay calm and wait for an opportunity to leave.

"I didn't know Grillbz still had friend in Hotland. This place must be chilled to the bone for a hotty, like you." Sans places an elbow on the table as he leaned his skull into his hand. The poor fire monster was bullied as a child, so it was unexpected that there were friends from there. Not to mention she was covered from head to toe, in black clothing. Most likely a fire monster if they're from Hotland. She rocked a bit on the stool with arms crossed, tightly pulled into her body. The little thing was noticeably having a hard time dealing with the fridge weather. It was sweet of her to bear the cold to visit Grillby. If there's something more than friendship between the two, Sans had to find out. This new secret mission that was assigned to himself, filled him with determination. "It's kind of rude, not tell your new pal, your name," Sans held out an extended hand, for the girl to take.

Arial stared at it, wondering if it was safe to take the hand that was offerd to her. Unlike Sans, she knew a lot about him. There were cameras hidden throughout the underground, which she secretly used to watch her brothers out in public, feeling like a stalker. Alphys understood that Arial was too scared to face her brothers, but the girl wanted to know about their lives. So her adopted mother hacked into business security cameras like Grillby's. This was how Arial found out, Sans was not a morning monster. She remembered once being jealousy of Grillby when he would play in the snow with Sans and Papyrus, as kids. That was why she came to this tavern in the first place, in the hopes to meet the fire monster. First she thought he was her connection to get a little closer to the skeleton brothers, without ever coming in contact with them. Over time, Grillby became her closes friend that she could trust. Sadly, now there were no walls separating her and Sans. She was sitting right in front of her older brother, who had a huge smile, waiting for her to take it. There were no clues that the girl sitting next to him, was an abomination and his half-little sister. She studied his bony hand wondering if it was safe to take. Sans loved jokes and playing tricks, this simple hand shake could be booby trap. Not taking it, would be rude though. She decided, as long as she kept her real identity a secret, it couldn't hurt to spend a little time with him for a while. "Arial" her voice was quiet as a mouse, as she placed her hand in to Sans' and discovered there was a whoopee cushion.

A farting sound whistled between their hands as they shake on their new friendship. Sans sighed a little at his disappointed joke. It was pointless if he couldn't see the victim's facial expression. At least he knew her name now. "I'm Sans….Sans Skelton…Skele-pun master"

"Then try to tickled my funny bone…Punny Master" Arial spoke in a playful voice, while pulling her hand away. Unlike Papyrus, she enjoyed hearing Sans clever puns. This was going be her first time hearing it live, not over security footage in the laboratory.

"I want to, but I feel this terrible pit in my stomach" Sans chuckled while leaning back a little as he rubbed his coat in a hungry monition.

"Pitty…Why so boneless?"

"Because I don't have the mussels, to move." Sans puts his head down and collapses on the bar table like a rag doll. "I need some fatty meat. I'm all bones."

Under the black robe, the human-monster had a big grin on her face. Did she just try to do puns with Sans? Ariel was about to add more to the punny party, but stopped when she noticed Grillby, coming out of the kitchen. The sweet fire monster was carrying a tray of steaming food. He placed a hamburger with fries, in front of both of his friends. "Food is on the house Sans, but you're paying for all the bottles, you drink." Grillby demanded, placing five bottles in front of the ketchup-holic.

"Just what the doctor ordered…..Ariel, doesn't that hood get in the way?" Sans asked, before opening his month wide and taking a bite of the greasy burger.

"I'm used to it…I was burned badly as a kid, so I'm ashamed of my scars." Arial looked down at her left arm, as she lightly touched the fabric covering it. She wasn't really lying. She still had a few scars on her human flesh, when her creator's machine failed and burned her skin. Being ashamed of your looks, is complicated when you're two things at once, but also wanting to look like your brothers. A soft sigh slipped out, while she picked up a knife and fork to cut the hamburger into small strips, before stabbing it with the fork and placing it into her mouth.

"You never told me that" Grillby responded while he was in the middle of taking a customer's order. He was not sure if Arial was telling the truth or going along with the fact that she may live in Hotland. "I thought you were wearing a hoodie, because you where shy"

"Shy...Grillbz, this girl tried to out bone pun me." Sans pointed a finger at Arial while his other hand was tightly holding a ketchup bottle. "I wouldn't mind if she als…"

"I hope your bad funny bone didn't rub off on her...Please, keep your bone finger off her" Grillby remarked in a spark of anger, before heading back in to the kitchen to get other costumers orders ready.

Arial was a little puzzled at what the male monsters where talking about. Did she miss something while she was eating? Turning her head slightly toward Sans, she noticed that the ketchup bottles on the table, were almost all gone and only half of his burger, was eaten. If she remembers correctly, her creator told her that skeleton monsters didn't have a stomach, but they did need to eat. When the food entered the skull, the skeleton's soul, quickly burned it up as fuel for energy and magic. They could go a week without food, but this could cause them to be weak and powerless to move. If a skeleton goes a month without fuel, their soul could burn out and they will fade into dust. Heavy foods like hamburgers could be harder for their soul to burn up quickly which leads to mashed bits of food, to fall right out of them. So liquid foods, like ketchup, was easier for a skeleton's soul to burn up quickly. Arial on the other hand, could get way with eating anything. What her soul couldn't burn up at the time, her tiny stomach stored and used later for energy.

Sans licked his teeth as he got a creepy feeling of someone watching him. He looked back at Arial noticing her head seemed to be pointing in his direction but looking down at his food. "Would you like it?…I would take it home, but my little bro doesn't like me bringing greasy food home." he asked, remembering fire monsters were big eaters.

"I'm also stuffed….I always end up taking food home for my mom…..She's what I call a "Microwave Chef". Only cooking foods that she can heat up…I've eaten so many ramen noodles, it's a wonder I'm not noddly yet.

"Same. With Paps, my bro. Always with his stupendous spaghetti" Sans chucked while picking up his plate of food and sliding it onto Arial's plate. "So, you live with your mom?"

"Yup…I'm only sixteen, so I can't live on my own…Don't get me wrong I love hanging out with her…This may sound sad, but she's my best friend."

"What about Grillbz?"

"He's my friend too….my mom and I share a love for anime, together….I'm bit of an…. otaku, thanks to her. I mostly prefer, manga"

"Manga?...So you're into human comic books?…The only stuff I have read is 'Brotherhood'…. guess you can say I liked it…alchemy is interesting"

Arial smiled under her hood at the mention of a manga she knew by heart. It's understandable why Sans liked it too. Sure it had alchemy, but it was also about a bond between two human brothers that would do anything, to help each other. It was kinda funny how the skeleton brother's height and personally is a bit similar to the brothers in Brotherhood. Both Sans and Edward loved science, great at magic, or in Edwards case alchemy and carry a lot of hardship on their own to protect their family. While Papyrus and Alphonse, both have a positive outlook on life, believing there was good in everyone and did their best to help others. "So, do you study bonemy?"

"In my spare time. I also have an interest in the study of alternate universes and timelines… But work always leaves me bone tired…."

"Grillbz told me, you dropped out of school so you can look after your brother while he goes to high school"

"Don't worry, I got a GED … Paps is going to high school, but so determined to become a royal guard …I think he wants to pay for me go to college...I keep telling him, I'm not a book worm"

"I'm not sure what to do with my life either." Arial became sad at the thought of what life would be like as an adult. What was she going to do if something happen to Alphys? She was not a scientist and anything involving the royal family, was out of the question. Maybe she could get a job at Grillby's. Besides Alphy's laboratory, this was the only other place that felt like home, to her.

"You could become a Singer" a voice popped out of nowhere, as Grillby slipped out from behind the kitchen door with a tray of food. He carefully walked around the tavern placing food in front of his customers.

"GRILLBZ!" Arial yelled, pulling on her hood out of embarrassment. Inside the robes, her cheek was turning a deep shade of pink.

"You have a lovely voice." A flame turned into a smile on Grllby's face as he took Arial's food and started boxing it up for her. Then placed the dirty dish and empty bottles of ketchup onto his serving tray.

"I'm all ear drums..go on Ariel." Sans leans into his elbow against the table and rests his head then waved for her to begin.

Arial leaned over as she placed her hand over her heart while shaking her head like a mad woman. Having a group of monster listen to her, would be too overwhelming. The only people she ever sang in front of were Alphys, Grillby, and Undyne...Wait, that was not right. She never sang in front of Undyne. In her heart it felt true, but her memories it was not. "Don't worry." the words pop into her mind as she looked around. The feeling of eyes burning into her soul, from anticipation of her voice. Luckily, there was a distraction, when she felt vibration in her robe pocket. Digging into the pocket, she pulled out a phone, buzzing with a happily melody of "mew kisses".

"Hello, Mom" she spoke into the phone happily in relief. The tone of her voice disappeared. "Mom, calm down…..What do you mean?…"

The comforting feeling of the tavern went cold, as loud alarms and buzzing echo over Snowdin. The monsters looked at each other in panic and the same confused expression, wondering what was going on. Sans knew this sound like the back of his bony hands. Quickly, he pulled his phone out of his jacket, to look at the time. How could he get so distracted and forget about the human? If the alarms were going off, that indicated that monsters were being killed and Papyrus could be in danger. "Grillbz, I need your help, everyone leaves Snowdin…got it?"

"I UNDERSTAND…." Arial shouted as she covered her ears while trying to speak on the phone. She hung it up as every monster's phone started to buzz and ring tones added to the noise. Almost one by one everyone looked at their phone as a "warning! dangerous human" flashed on the screen in red colors before changing into a map, showing directions to the royal laboratory, and a count down. Arial took a deep breath as she climbed up on to the bar table. She held out her phone in front of her, displaying the "Royal Scientist" symbol. Facing the crowd of monsters, Her knees started to shake. She hated public speaking, but it was an emergency. She started to shout, In the loudest voice she could muster.

"Everyone! calm down…I'm an assistant to the 'Royal Scientist', Alphys…She is sorry about hacking. Right now all media devices are displaying the same thing... Yes the human is in the underground and already out of the Ruins, killing…. We need every guard and any monster willing to help with the evacuation of Snowdin …there's no time to waste, we must hurry to the laboratory, in Hotland. We have four hours to get there. After that, Alphy will take those who make it, to an unknown safety area. Sorry, she can't give a map to that area in caution of the human having a phone or seeing a broadcast on television …You're all welcome to fight or flee."

Sans always wondered how messages of the killer human, spread so quickly in Snowdin. He watched monsters rush out of the tavern, leaving only the three of them, at the bar. He turned back to see Grillby reaching out his arms, to help Arial, off the bar table. In a quick motion, the fire monster, tightly pulled her into a loving embrace.

"I have this bad feeling... I know I can't stop you…Please be careful" Grillby whispered in low voice pulling her in closer as the warm flames surround her tiny body. "I lo…." his voice was short as a gloved finger was placed on his fire rock lips.

"When we meet again" Arial spoke, voice mixed with worry and hopefulness as she gently pushed away from her dear friend. "Tell me then…" she said, before turning her back and running out of the tavern before anyone else could say another word to her.

"Grillbz…Don't worry I'll keep an eye socket out for her… I need to go find Paps, now…Knowing him, he going to try and pick a bone with the human…" Sans waved as at his best pal, before teleporting out the tavern and land right in front of Arial. "Need a lift?" hold his hand out for her to take.

Arial jumped back a little, forgetting Sans had the talent for appearing out of nowhere. She nodded her head as she took hold of his bony hand. "Alphy saw the human was heading to first station post…. Your brother is already in the area."

"LET'S GO!"


	10. Chapter 9

**((OOC: If you would like learn more about HeartTale** **, Flowey pleases visit "Undertale AU Hearttale Characters Profiles"))**

The usually soft whispering cold breezy was muted out as a warning buzz was echoing through the snowy forest. The unwelcoming alarm, caused terror and panic in monsters' souls as they rushed passed a teenage skeleton, which was headed in the opposite direction. Instead, heading into town or to safety, Papyrus was jogging with excitement towards the guard station, nearest to the Ruins. Papyrus could not give up his chance to finally meet a real life human. If anyone could single handily capture a human, they were sure to become a hero. Undyne would be so proud, there was no way she would say no, to appoint him as the new member of the Royal Guard. The only thing that may stand in the way was his older brother. Sure, Sans was a lazy bone, but he was also very over protective of his baby brother. If a human were to upset the older skeleton, there was no telling if there would be anything left to capture.

"Eeeeeeee…Please don't dust the human, Sans….I need to capture them." Papyrus cried in terror, picking up speed. Under the white body armor, an orange heart was beating fast, within his rib cage. The human was the last piece of the puzzle needed to break the barrier, which trapped all monsters within the Underground. Papyrus also believed it was the only way to make all of his loved one's dreams come true. It was also getting very aggravating to hide his relationship with Super Star, Mettaton from the public eye. They were the perfect match for each. Both of them shared a love for fashion, pasta, and entertaining others with their skills. Just being together is the only time his soul burned, with loving warmth. There were many occasion that Mettaton would hold Papyrus tightly for hours, telling him he was the smartest, cutest, and kindest monster in the Underground. Papyrus just wished other monsters would see him the same way, his love did. Sadly, he was just known as Sans' little brother and still a child in many monster's eyes. Sure, he was still underage and it's frowned upon for adult monsters to be with a minor. That's why, it's important to capture the human and become a Royal Guard. That way, no one will care if the young skeleton was dating a Super Star and no nasty rumors about their relationship. Who in their right mind, would trash talk about a Royal Guard ? They're the strongest and coolest group of monsters, in the Underground.

There was a gust of snow on the guard station as red snow boots came to a sudden halt. "SANS" a voice mixed with worry-angry shouted into the opening of the station as red boxing gloves grasped the side wooden frame. The name was called a few more times as the skeleton leaned into the booth hoping to find his short lazy brother, curled up in a ball, and taking a nap. No luck, Sans was not here and there wasn't empty ketchup bottles on the ground, either. Did his older brother runway at the sound of the alarm going off? That was not possible. Sure the older one was a lazy sack of bones these days, but he was no scaredy cat. To Papyrus, he was the third bravest monster in the Underground, next to Undyne and Mettaton. It was possible Sans was at home, napping. The poor older skeleton didn't appear to be under the weather this morning. Papyrus nodded to himself in agreement, while standing up straight look at a clear gray sky above him. "I need to make sure to buy cases of ketchup, on my way home," he told himself, while an image of a sickly Sans eyes socket lighting up, with tiny white hearts at the sight of a super special get-well gift, Papyrus was going bring home to him.

"I'm such a super cool brother." He laughs, pushing away any negative feelings of knowing he was left alone to face the human. There was going to be no one there to cheer for the brave monster in battle. It was too late to leave now; he was so close to making all his dreams come true. More laughing burst through bony teeth while red glove placed on each side of hip bones.

The laughter disappeared when Papyrus noticed a soft crying sound nearby. Snow crushed under the red boots as he looked around for the source. He stopped in front of a purple lamp with a lime green shade. Almost hidden from view, was a bright yellow flower. Watching in puzzlement as tear drops were coming from its big oval shaped, black eyes. Papyrus was positive that flowers couldn't express emotion, but this one. The poor thing seemed to shake none stop, probably caused by the icy cold air. "Are you hurt?" Papyrus spoke in a concerned voice, while kneeling down as red glove reached out to touch the flower's soft yellow petals.

The flower hissed as it felt something brushed against the petals. Little black eyes glared with hate at its attacker, but quickly soften after realizing there was no danger. "I'm so….glad I found…a Royal Guard" the flower spoke in a weak voice while using a green leaf to brush the tear from its white oval shaped face.

"WOWiE! Do I really look like a Royal Guard..? Well I'm not one yet, but don't worry, I THE GREAT PAPYRUS is at your services."

"Oh, thank you," the flower smiled sweetly at the armored skeleton. The happy expression faded as a cold chill ran up its green stem. The winter breeze was too much for the plant to take. "I was trying….to escape the Ruins …get away from…the human. I ended up here….I tried…leaving…but…the dirt was frozen…hard. I'm stuck now" chattering while lifting up a bent leaf that was partly frozen solid.

Papyrus never meet a flower that could travel underground or speak for that matter. Hearing that the plant came into contact with a human, sounded super interesting. He couldn't wait for the human to shows up now, so he could use his master puzzling skills, to stop them in their tracks. Then again, was waiting here the best course of action. Sure it was his dream to capture a human, but it was not a heroic thing to do, when a civilian was in trouble. The poor flower looked awful. What could he do? He didn't have a flower pot to carry them. Being a monster made out of bones, meant there was no body heat. Then again, he could use the heat from his soul to help warm the flower up. A monster heart shape soul was very strong source of their magic, but in the wrong hand, it could be crushed and its owner would be dusted. Papyrus didn't like the idea of presenting someone that was not his Lover, his soul. If he didn't act quickly, the little flower could die. Judging by the sound of his voice, it seemed like a harmless little flower. "Alright, I'm going to scoop you up into my scarf…If you promise to be careful, I can use my soul to melt the ice." Undoing the long red scarf around his neck, he leaned in closer to the flower.

"PAPS"

"PAPYRUS"

The young skeleton grasped his scarf tightly he slowly looked over his shoulder. Behind him, was his big brother holding hands with a hooded stranger. The skull tilts to the side in puzzlement, wondering what was going on. Did Sans pretend to be sick earlier so he could play hooky from work to go on a date? The light glaring in San's eye sockets told him otherwise. Instead of going home to look for him, Papyrus had ignored the alarms. Now, here was his brother, because he thought his little brother was in danger. What a worry wart. Did he have no faith that Great Papyrus, could take care of himself? What was more puzzling was the hooded monster. "Sans, what is the River Person doing here with you?"

Arial and Sans both sigh in relief knowing that Papyrus was alright and undamaged. The older skeleton lets go of the girl's hand, then reaches for his brother to take it. This was not the usual spot in genocide route, for Papyrus and the human to battle. Then again, nothing in this timeline was the same as the previous ones, anymore. If this were a regular timeline, then Sans should have met the human already and Papyrus would try to get the human to solve his puzzles. Wait, before the puzzle part happened, sometimes the human would hide behind the lamp. Right now Papyrus was standing in front of the lamp, blocking it from view. "Long story Papyrus…What?"

"BROTHER! I'm trying to be a hero…This poor fellow is freezing to death." Papyrus moved to the side a bit so the others could see the scared little flower. Now that San was here, he could teleport the half frozen plant to Grillby's, so they could warmup. Which meant that he could stay and keep on hunting for the human.

"Flowey" Arial shouted noticing the flower monster was with them. Biting the bottom of her lip, she wondered if she let that traitor explain what he was doing here or attack him. The purple light flickered from under the hood while a gloved hand gripped tightly into an angry fist. If anyone was to blame for Dr. Gaster's disappearance, it was that fake smiling flower. Sure she could see the flower appeared to be scared and in pain from sitting in the snow but it was all a trick. She knew, if that weed wanted to, he could weasel himself out of this situation. The only way to capture him was to place him in a flower pot. She didn't want to capture him. She wanted to punish him. Once upon a time, they were best friends living together in the laboratory until the traitor destroyed their creator. After all these years, was the evil thing going to try and finish off the rest of her family? "Papyrus get away from him!"

"Howdy!" Flowery giggled bouncing up and down in amusement at the sound of hearing his ex-childhood friend's voice. Never in his darkness dream, would he imagine seeing all three skeleton siblings, in one place. The human told him things were going to be different now and they were right. Not sure what the human or Sans did to change it all, but he liked it. It was a new kind of timeline to explore. Maybe if the cards were played right, he could join their foolish team until the human showed up to play. Putting on a wide and friendly smile he could muster, while waving a leaf at them. Sadly it didn't work as the purple light flamed out of Arial's hood and a bone appeared in Sans' left hand. How stupid, could he be? They both knew the flower was rotten to the core, but the idiot next to him was clueless. Without a second thought, the snow went flying through the air as green vines burst from the ground. It quickly slides across Papyrus' chest armor before wrapping tightly around the unexpecting skeleton. A demonic laugh slipped out of the flower's lips as a friendly smile, transformed into something sinister.

"Are we playing a game?" Papyrus chuckled trying to wiggle his arms free. No luck of freedom, as the vines tighten its grip. The bones rattled in fear as the skeleton body was lifted off the snowy ground. He thought the flowery was a good monster, why was he doing this? Carefully moving his skull down, he could see a glowing blue light, forming in Sans' left eye socket as bones appeared overhead. Did his brother spook the poor flower into doing this? "Brother?"

"Paps. Hold on…I just need do some weeding first." Sans aimed the bones and was about to attack, but stopped when he noticed a gloved hand was placed on his drawn hand. Arial shook her head 'no' back and forth then pointed a finger in Papyrus' direction. Vines had slipped around the young brother's neck bone, then pressing down hard. One wrong move and the flower could easily snap the neck bone, into two. If Sans attacked Flowey now, there could be a chance the demon flower could kill his brother before he could attack. Sans growled in defeat as he withdrew his bones and they disappeared into thin air. "Look Weedy, We'll let you go if you release my Bro."

"Nope…Wait better yet; I will make a trade…Arial, for the dimwit" Flowey, smirked waving Papyrus around as if he were a little doll in his clutches. Knowing how close their brotherly bond was, Sans would do anything to save his brother's life. Even if it meant having to sacrifice another monster's life. Arial would let Sans do it too if it meant saving her brother. The look on the younger brother's face would be so priceless.

"Brother, don't", Papyrus called out before a tiny vine sprouted from his neck and wrapped around his bony jaw, locking his mouth, into place.

"It seems you both known each other?!" Sans blue eye glaring at Arial, remembering the girl had called out the flower's name earlier. The only one he knew that was aware of Flowey's existence was the human and himself. From experience, that's never a good thing, knowing this weed. In a quick motion, Sans grasped onto the black robe. Looking into the deep pitch blackness of the hood, he noticed a tiny purple light glowing bright inside; casting onto something appeared to be a bony eye socket. He reached up and gripped the end of the hood.

"No!" Arial cried as giant bones cast in purple light jabbed Sans in the rib cage, causing him to lose grip on the robe. The skeleton body was pushed deep into the snow, knocking him out cold. Arial backed away in fear of what just happen. Sweat dripped down the side of her face as the purple bone, disappeared into thin air. Attacking her big brother with her magic was not the best idea to do, but she couldn't let him discover her identity. There was something else that needed to be done. "I'm sorry, but Pap…" her voice was replaced with a cry of shock as something quickly crawled up under the robe, before tightly wrapping around her legs.

Within seconds, Arial was knocked off her feet as her body came smashing into the snow. Flowey laughed hysterically while dragging his new victim through the cold wet fluff. Now there were two dollies to play with. Purple light started to flare in the girl's right hand, trying to form a weapon. "I don't…Think so" Two veins burst out of the snow, one gripping onto her glowing hand, while the other took hold of the arm.

Chilling screams filled the air, waking passed out Sans, from his cold sleep. Just in time to see a gloved hand flying in mid-air before disappearing into the snow. Without a wasting time, Sans raised a bony hand in the air then sharp bones illuminating in blue light, took aim for vines holding Papyrus capture. The attack was deflected in mid-air as the bone bounced off a toy knife before disappearing into a cloud of blue magical smoke.

"Sansy … Sansy. That's not how we play the game." a wicked voice chuckled into Sans' ear. A small child's face lean over his bony shoulder while a sharp knife pushed up against the skeleton's neck. It's funny how easy it was for the human to sneak up on the bone bag cause he was too busy trying to save his younger brother. "You look so bone tired…how about I help you take a long nice cold nap," gigging while rubbing rosy cheeks against San's cold bony cheeks.

"Kill Him…Kill Him" Flowey chanted in excitement while using his two prisoners like pumps. Every once in a while knocking Papyrus and Arial into each other.

A muffled scream came out of Papyrus as he watched the horror unfold before him. This was not right. Nothing about what was going on was right. It was entirely his fault. Should have just gone home as soon as he heard the alarms. Orange tears streamed down the side of his cheek bone. If nothing was done soon, they were all going to die. Hope starts to drain from the skeleton's soul as he felt the hooded monster, ram into him. Instead of being pulled apart, a black glove grasping onto his boxer glove.

"Papyrus, I need to borrow your hand." Arial spoke weakly, while pulling the boxing glove off of him then was swung into opposite directions. Unlike Papyrus, who mostly covered in vines, she only had one under her robes, wrapped tightly around her waist. Flowey must have thought there was no need after removing her dominant hand from play. Without the right hand, she could not summon any bones or magic. There was a trick she learned from her creator. Skeleton's form was created by magic which made it easy for them to detach their limbs. Long as those bones were not crushed or damaged, there shouldn't be too much pain. When Flowey had ripped her hand off, he also crushed her rib cage and he still was. Her head was becoming dizzy as one lung was doing all the work, trying to get air to the brain. This was not going to stop her. As the boxing glove fell into the snow, her only hand reached out to Papyrus' bony hand. In a fast motion, ripping the skeleton hand off, clean. "I'm sorry" she whispered hearing a muffled cry and seeing orange tears forming in Papyrus eye sockets.

Purple and orange magic pushed against each other as Arial tried to attach his hand on to her stubby wrist. Seeing that both of them are right handed magic users, it was difficult to bind their bones together. A cry escaped her lips as she felt the orange magic try over power her own. "Papyrus, I need you to calm down and release ownership of your hand…I promised to give it back."

A smile spread across her face as the orange magic faded way and purple magic bound the bony hand to her arm. Down below, Flowey was too busy as he watched the knife scrape into Sans' neck bone, causing the older skeleton winces in pain. How dare they hurt her older brother, the human and flower were going to pay. Fiery purple glow covered Arial's right eye shocked while cupping her hands together before jabbing a magical bone through her robe.

Flowey screech in pain as he watched green blood drip off Arial's boots. The pain didn't stop as other jab went deeper into the vine. "You Bitch" he cried tossing the girl into the guard station before sinking his wounded arm, into the snowy ground.

Arial's body slid down the station before crashing into the snow. She carefully rolled over on to her knees coughing, tiny red spots appeared on the clear white snow. Body aching in pain, just wanting to give up, but her soul was beating to keep going. She had to save her brothers. The pain was just too much as her mind become fuzzy, she collapsed into the snow. What was the point to live this long if she fails them like she did with her creator. "This is not the end" the thought raced through her mind as a death scythe appeared in the borrowed bony hand. Within seconds, human-skeleton was on her feet rushing towards the flower. A green vine, aimed for her head missed as she ducked down while scythe swinging around cutting the tip off the plant. Evil Laughing while green blood squirted onto the black robe. Only thought was to kill, before they could kill you. Vines burst from under her feet, surround her like a fly stuck in venus fly trap.

"You never learn…Two" Flowey snickered as sharp tip vines, surround its prey came crushing down. Everyone could hear the female screaming within the plant cage. Inside the hellish trap, the once black robe, was nothing but shredded pieces of ribbons laying in the snow. Blood dripped down the side of her face while gripping the scythe tightly. Wide smile spread across Ariel's face as blood dripping around it. Bone illuminated in purple light, rain down on her imprisonment.

Flowey cried in pain and fear watching as the demon abomination, easily chopped away at his limb like thin paper. "Chara…Help…!" the black oval eyes darted over to the human child, holding Sans capture. No reply from them, only a wicked smirk. Is no one going to help him? Wasn't Chara and him friends?

"I was only joking" the flower panicked while placing Papyrus down on the snowy ground. The vines bounding Papyrus, slither away, while sweat dripped down the side of the flower's nervous face. He loved watching chaos, but this was too much. This was not part of the plan and he didn't remember signing up to be dusted, anytime soon. "See you later" the plant waved before lowering his body into the snow till no longer visible.

Papyrus was not sure if he should cheer or not, watching as his savior collapsed into the snow. Taking a few steps, he noticed the black gloved skeleton hand, lying on the ground next to him. Carefully picking it up, it appeared to be damaged. Unlike his own hand, the phalanges were tiny and thinner worn with years of scars. The figure hood had his hand then it easy to include that this belong to them. The identity of his savior, was still unknown, but they kind of reminded him of Undyne. Never giving up even when the cards are not in their favor. He hoped someday to be, the great and strong. Carefully closing glove over right hand making sure not to lose it, while he ran at top speed. Only stopped as he looked down at the strange female monster, covered in blood and ripped black dress covering her body. She appeared be human with bones poking out, but the left side was made of peach pink flesh. The skeleton leaned over to place the loose hand on her chest, before scooping the girl up into his arm. Soft breathing noises could be heard, which was a relief that the girl was still alive. Whoever this was, she needed medical attention, right away.

"Pity….Looks like your brother is free now…" The human sighed in disappointment at the event that expired before them. They really thought this time, that silly flower was going to be useful. Guess he was all bark no bite, like always. At least they could enjoy watching the younger brother watch in horror as they killed Sans. The wicked child giggled as their free hand slowly reached under the skeleton's blue jacket and shirt. The finger making its way up to the ribs, wanting to crush the monster's soul with their own bare hands.

"I don't think so…Numb Skull" Sans said while smashing the back of his skull into the Kid's face. A small cry slipped out as the knife sliced into the neck bone. Cracks formed in the vertebra causing a chunk to break off. The older skeleton did his best to ignore the pain, as bones covered in blue light appeared beside his face before flying into human flesh. Sans could hear the child scream as the knife released from his neck. Without looking back he teleported next to Papyrus who was holding Arial in his arms. The older one sigh as he placed a hand on his little brother's shoulder, before teleporting them all to places far away from the demon child's reach, for the time begin.


	11. Chapter 10

A hint of moldy, wet, sock odor filled the air, as blue lights flickered over a blue-purple zig zag chevron carpet. In the center of the blue beams, a dark shadow was forming into colorful shapes. In a blink of an eye, the blue light disappeared, leaving three creatures, next to an old green couch leaning against a brown wall.

"Home sweet Home", Sans implied and dusted the snow off his blue winter jacket, before walking into the kitchen. It was not the best hiding place, from a murderous, human, child, on the loose, in Snowdin. Sadly, there was a limit to his shortcut. Teleportation was a cool magical ability, but taking two passengers, left a strain on his bones. All he needed was a little rest and some food to fuel his magic. Pink slippers slid across the orange-tan colored checkerboard flooring, while making his way to the fridge. A bony hand reached out and grasped the metal handle, pulling a squeaky fridge door, open. Inside, it was packed with containers labeled, "spaghetti". The side shelving was stocked with different flavors of ketchup. Within seconds, Sans' arms were filled with bottles and a container. Grabbing one last bottle, with his mouth, then used his foot to kick the fridge door, closed. A squirt of ketchup fell from the bottle within his teeth, and splat on the floor. Sans stared at it for a few seconds then convinced himself to come back later to clean it up. Then, headed back to the others.

In the living room, Papyrus was kneeling in front of the couch, placing the wounded girl onto the cushions. Blood was seeping out from her lacerations. The wounds need to be healed quickly or she was going to die, from blood loss. A boxing gloved hand, carefully took hold of her gloved hand, as an orange light illuminated in Papyrus' eye sockets. Desperately trying to summon a green healing magic to mend the wounds, but it was useless without his right hand. Next to the coach, a female, bony, right hand lay on the floor. If the girl could fuse his hand to her body, maybe he could do the same. Carefully placing the black-glove beside the girl before scooping up the bony hand. Purple magic, fought back, by pushing the orange glow, around his wrist. It was useless; even if the owner was knocked out cold, Ariel still had a stronghold, on her hand.

"If you need a hand, you could ask", Sans chuckled while placing a container of food and bottles of ketchup, next to his little brother. Sans leaned over Arial's body, and then lightly touched her forehead with the left bony hand. The green light, cast over her face before making its way down to the chest. "Flat as a board."

"SANS! That's rude….What are you doing?", Papyrus snapped, watching Sans tug on ripped pieces of fabric, hanging from the black dress.

"I need to make sure her ribs are not broken… "

"You're just like Daddy." Papyrus giggled seeing lights in Sans' eye, sparkle before opening the container of food.

"I'm not like him!" Sans snapped back while glowing fingers, lightly brushed against Arial's rib cage. They both loved science. The only problem was, deep down, he was scared of becoming like their father. Becoming a slave to his work and neglecting loved ones. It was probably why he refused to get a job in the science field. Sparks of light within the eye socket, could not lie. Sans' soul, burned blue with excitement. Wanting to learn more about the creature's body. "Papyrus, could you go grab the medical box and a long shirt?"

"Alright….You better not hurt her or go, mad scientist, on me."

Sans nods as he watches Papyrus leave the room. Once the younger brother was out of sight, the green light disappeared and was replaced with blue magic. In a quick flash, a bone appeared in his hand. The white in his eye socket flick as neon blue light sparked in the left shock. Black fabric went flying into the air as the sharp end of bone ripped what was left of the black dress. Before Sans was an almost completely naked girl. The only thing covering her was black panties and laced up knee high boots. The promise was not to hurt Arial, but nothing about examining the body. Most of the human flesh, covering the left side with burn scars decorated down the fleshy arm. Which hinted that the girl may have been telling the truth about being badly burned, as a child. Leaning over closer, Sans could see her eye socket, wasn't smooth but had tiny cracks and chipped a bit, around the edges. It appears that something had been forced into it, causing damage. Looking through the rib cage on the side was very interesting. Where you would expect organs to be exposed and dangling out, there was a flesh case around, keeping it all bound to the spinal cord. The bones coming out of the human part appeared to have a bit of flesh fused into the bone itself. Sans glared at the panties as his hand rattled, wondering if he should peek or not. The science part was dying to explore. Doing so, felt like he would betray Grillby. The poor fire monster hasn't seen Arial's face yet and here was the so-called best pal staring at her lovely rib cage.

"Sans, what are you doing?" Papyrus yelled in a demanding voice, seeing that Sans was too fixated on the girl, too notice that he had returned. He wasn't too pleased, seeing a nude girl in their living room. This was not how gentleman treated a lady. Sometimes, he wondered who taught Sans his manners. "Here" Papyrus groaned, sitting down next to his brother while using other arm pull off the boxing glove. It was kind of pointless now wear boxing glove when the match was long gone. If he did ever find the missing one, it would be best to keep this one clean, while using scraps fabric to clean some of the blood off the girl.

"Nothing bro…Just being bad to the bone, I guess." Sans spoke nervously as he took the first aid box and shirt. Sadly, some cuts were too deep for his healing magic to repair. Everything needed to treat the wounds was in the box they had at their disposable. Once Arial was cleaned and bandaged up, Papyrus stood up and carefully raise her torso off the coach as Sans slipped the shirt onto her then placed her back down "You know I could wake up sleeping beauty by pressing on her soul a bit?" Sans suggested while grabbing a ketchup bottle and twisting the cap off.

"Would it hurt?" Papyrus replied in a worried voice, using a bony finger to poke at cold noodles covered in tomato sauce in the box. It felt like hours have gone by and the girl was still unconscious. The only indication they had that she was not dead, was the slow movement from breathing. Afraid that the female hero had fallen into a deep coma, Papyrus was willing to do anything to wake her up. Even if it meant letting Sans cause a jolt of pain, to her soul.

"Like a bee sting"

"Alright….Go easy."

Sans nodded in reply before taking a sip of ketchup, pleased that Papyrus was not going to argue on the subject of using psychokinesis on Arial. Waiting for the girl to wake up, was wasting precious time and there were many questions that needed to be answered. The left bony hands dug into his jacket pocket, to pull out a cellphone. There was a little less than an hour left on the timer displayed on the phone screen. Once the number hit zero the monsters who made it to the Royal Laboratory, would be evicted to an unknown area. Which left the choice, should he quickly take Papyrus there, now that he had enough energy to teleport them both? Knowing that once there, his little brother would throw a fit like a little kid not wanting his brother to leave him alone and yell about leaving Arial behind. Which would only waste more time in the long run and he was sure Papyrus was also curious about their mystery friend's form too. Deeply sighing, Sans raised a magical hand out in front of him while a blue light started to glow from the sleeping girl's chest. Slowly and carefully pulled a glowing purple heart, out of the chest. Blue magic coiling around the heart lightly pressing on the soul. Nothing happened, the girl was still motionless. So Sans pressed a little harder on soul and harder, but nothing. What the fuck was wrong with the girl? Did she not want to wake up? No, she needs to wake up, he still had to ask her how she knew about Flowey and find out if she had any connection to the last timeline with the demon kid. Sans screamed in frustration as he jumped to his feet and took hold of the heart. Pressing the tips of his phalanges, deep into the purple soul until it didn't resemble a heart shape.

"Sans, Stop!" Papyrus pleaded, dropping his food container onto the floor before grabbing onto his brother's jacket, worried that force would break the purple soul. "SANS!"

The sound of pleading stopped as a piercing shrill of pain filled the air. The purple heart was released from captivity and disappeared as both the skeleton brother turned their attention to the couch. Arial was heavily breathing while clinging to her chest. The eyelid opened as a cloudy purple iris could only see shadow figures casting over her. In a rush of panic, purple bones surrounded, protecting her from harm.

"Good, you're finally awake... Don't worry, human…..monster…You're safe thanks to the cool skeleton brothers." Papyrus boasted forgetting that Sans almost killed the girl.

"Good morning sleeping beauty…For someone who was at Death's door, you still have a lot of juice to spare" Sans spoke as he poked a finger at the bone that was floating in front of his skull.

"Sorry….My name is Arial, Papyrus." She blushed as a blurred vision came into view, seeing the two skeletons looking at her through the bone barrier. The bones puffed away in a purple cloud as she looked around her surroundings. There was a table with a large flat screen television with a base stand too small that shouldn't have been able to support the weight. Next to it was a dirty sock with yellow sticky notes attached to it. None of this looked familiar to her. The last thing she remembered was collapsing in the snow after smashing into the guard station. After that, it was just a blurry mess. The missing memories didn't matter as long as her brothers were safe from danger, now. "Where am I?" weakly asking while slowly moving her body to sit upright.

"Welcome to our bachelor pad." Sans took a seat next to a pile of ketchup bottles, never taking an eye off the girl. Wanting to make sure not to miss any facial expression or body language that would hint if Arial was lying to them.

"WOWIE…Sans, I must be more popular than I think if a stranger knows my name…Now that I know her name too, I guess she's no stranger anymore…" Papyrus giggled forgetting this was not the first time Arial had called him by his name. Without warning, a handless arm was placed in front the girl's face. "I THE GREAT PAPYRUS would be honored if his savor would also be his friend."

"What do you expect Bro, you're the coolest dude I know." Sans hiccupped as red liquid started dripping down the side of his mouth. It was only six bottle of ketchup, so why was he becoming light headed. Quickly looking down and noticing the label of the bottle read "Bloody Mary". It was just one so it shouldn't make him deadly drunk, but it did give him a buzz to relax. He giggled to himself before taking another sip of alcohol.

"Alright Papyrus…I almost forgot…" Arial smiled almost forgetting that the younger brother skeleton was still missing his left hand. Reaching down with her right hand, she was about to push back the… The cute smile turned to horror as she grabbed not a black arm sleeve of robe but skeleton arm. Instead of wearing the usual black clothing to hide her abomination of a body, she was wearing a long white shirt, exposing most of her features. In a panic, she quickly pulled the back of the shirt over her head while knees were drawn up to the chest. Eye shut tight, hoping this was all a dream.

"O, No…Did I scare you, Ariel." Papyrus leaned in so he could peek through the neck hole. Inside the shirt, water was tearing up under the girl's eyelids. "It's alright…I know, how about I sing you a song Daddy use to sing to me when I was scared… Sans, you too"

"Nope…There's a frog in my throat."

"Fine be that way" Papyrus snapped before pulling Arial into a hug. "Nian zhi nian na xiang yu de yi shun jian…Wei ni ba shi kong chuan yue …."

Sans stayed quiet while listening to the mediocre singing of his younger brother. Sure their father was the one who taught Papyrus the song, but the song was really their mothers'. The memory of her was a bit fuzzy, seeing as she passed away when he was only a toddler. Every time Papyrus decides to sing, he swore he could hear their mother sweetly singing along. Right now, it seemed clear than normal. "What" Sans leaned in close to see Arial's eye was closed while the lips softly sang along with Papyrus.

"Nian de yuan de dou shuo ai shi zi ji de xin nian…Fan yun shou ju shui zhong yue"

"Where did you learn it?!" Sans snapped, a blue light sparked in his left eye socket while pulling down the shirt that covered Arial's head. No one in the Underground, except skeleton families, knew the lyrics to the song. How did the girl come by it? It was time to stop playing games. The skeleton took hold of Arial's fleshy arm while fingertips pressed hard into the skin. Something in his soul told him to back off or he was going to regret it. Looking up he could see deep orange lights glaring back at him. Overhead, an orange mist was trying to form magical bones. A murderous aura was surrounding Papyrus while he pulled Arial, closer into a protective hug. "Paps" fear of terror cracked in Sans' voice letting go of the girl's arm while backing away from the couch.

Sans' soul was beating like a madman, grasping onto the carpet tightly. Watching as a dark dangerous atmosphere disappeared and everything return back to normal. Papyrus' singing had started up again as if nothing had happened, a few seconds ago. Sans was not sure if it had been an illusion or real. Seeing the instinct to kill, in his younger brother's eyes, set chills down Sans' spine. What was going on?

"Sans, are you alright," Papyrus asked seeing the panic in the older brother's eyes.

"I'm…alright" Sans lied reaching for the blood Mary bottle he was drinking earlier. In the corner of his eye for a split second, he swore he could see two purple lights staring at him from under the shirt Arial was using as a hoodie. "Just bone tired I guess" chuckling before gulping down his drink trying to calm the soul down. Maybe the alcohol was making him see things.

"Lazybones….." Papyrus narrowed his eyes toward his brother. "Ariel, are you feeling better?" sweetly patting the girl softly on the head. There was a strange but strong focus, pulling on his orange soul, saying to protect the girl at all cost. Which he didn't mind obeying because that's what friends are for, to help each other out. A giggle slipped out when he noticed Arial uncovering her head. "You have an interesting cute face for a human….monster?"

"I'm Hybrid" Arial spoke in a soft voice before pressing her face into Papyrus' armor. The only other person to ever call her cute was Alphys. It was a mother's job to encourage their children and make them feel special. So it didn't count. Hearing Papyrus say it, made half her face turn red as a tomato.

"Wowie…..Wait, wasn't all humans that fell, children?...Is there a Pedophile in the underground?" Papyrus spoke in an alarming voice as he pulled Arial off the chest plate and held her out in front of him. The poor girl, if this were true, then as soon as they find Undye, they need to report this nasty monster.

"I know someone who fits the bill," Sans remarked coughed into his fisted hand. At least his brother was making a little progress find out the girl's true identity. It was all taking too long. The demon child had to be at least halfway done, going through Waterfall, murdering every monster in their path. The fear of a reset was just inches away from happening. He needed to learn as much as he could to be prepared for the next timeline.

"Sans, not now…That doesn't explain skeletons half" Papyrus glared at the older brother's hateful remark. Why couldn't Sans just accept it and be happy that his brother was in love? Could it be, maybe he was a bit jealous of his little brother for being the first one to find a lover? If that was the case, Papyrus would have to help find the perfect monster for Sans once harmony was restored to the Underground. Wait why not Arial? That thought left a sickly strange taste on his orange tongue. The soul was telling him there was a deeper connection between them, but not in a sexual way, more like in the family department.

"No….Ummmmm…..I really don't feel comfortable talking about this." Arial whispered as her body became heavy as it slouched down a bit. A skeleton hand started to pick at burn scars decorated down her flesh arms. She didn't know how to answer that question without them probing the name Gaster out of her. She badly wanted to run away and go home to Alphys. The brothers should have just left her in the snow and let her guilt, die with her. Sans and Papyrus were not those kinds of monsters, especially Papyrus, who cared about everyone's well-being.

"I'm sure if you let the cat out of the bag… it will work out purrfectly." Sans ended with a meow while reaching out to grab the hand picking at burn marks nervously. There was still a bit of distrust between them, but he couldn't stand someone harming themselves. Picking at wounds only makes it look worse. Like Papyrus said, she was cute in a strange way and there was that promise with Grillby to keep her safe. As long as she didn't appear to be threatening, he would let her live.

"I'm sorry, but the cat's got my tongue." Arial joked hoping that some puns would lighten the mood and stop the brothers from asking any more questions. Putting on a fake smile before sticking out her tongue at Sans.

"Not you too…SANS…. you're contagious." Papyrus groaned, looking at the mess of empty bottles and spaghetti spread across the floor as he released Arial and stood up. This was just pissing him off, puns and a mess to clean up. There were even red ketchup stains on carpet too. Some of it was his fault, but most of it was Sans' mess. Males were known to be messy creatures, but Sans treats things like his personal pigsty at times. They had a guest over, for crying out loud. He just hoped Arial would look past the mess and not think Papyrus was a slob too. Telling Sans to help clean up, would just lead to an argument of many puns about ketchup and cleaning. Heavily sighing as he leans over and started picking up the bottles.

"What can I say… I'm going, viral." Sans shrugged his shoulder while looking up at Arial hoping she would keep a pun party going. He couldn't help it; it was too much fun to aggravate Papyrus from time to time. Maybe a little laughter would make the girl open up more.

"First stop to the funny bone…Choo!" Arial giggled making a tugging motion in the air.

"BOTH OF YOU STOP IT!….Really I don't need TWO SANS." Papyrus snapped, stomping loudly while bottles dropping back onto the floor. "NEEEEEEEEEE ...Look what you made me do" staring angrily at both of the jokers.

"I'm sorry Papyrus….It was just too much fun… "Arial laughed as a tear ran down her cheek.

"Ariel don't cry again…Sans do something." Papyrus shouted mistaking her enjoy as sadness.

"Like what…Tell more Puns?" Sans chuckled, taking a seat next to Arial on the couch. Looking at her while places a bony finger over his wide grin.

"Anything, but that…..I know, the Great Papyrus will make you a bowl of his awesome spaghetti …HEEEEE!" Papyrus shouted in glee as he jogged to the kitchen almost tripping on a few bottles on the way.

"That would be so cool of you, Bro" Sans gave Papyrus thumbs up but never taking his eye off the girl. After hearing a loud sound of pots clanking in the kitchen, he leans in closer to Arial and wraps arms around her so there was no escaping. "Seems my bro has taken a liking to you. I promise not to dust you as long as you don't miss behave….I have a few questions I've been boning to ask...How are you part skel…."

"Go ahead, dust me" Arial snapped as her left eye became cloudy and little purple light was forming in the right eye socket.

"What?!" Sans was shocked, did this girl not care about her life? What was so importation that she willing to risk her own life?

"I'd rather die than tell you anything."

"Then I will try guessing it…Let's see…You have a connection to the royal scientist and there is a possibility that you're an experiment." Sans spoke in a low voice while cupping her chin and pulling Arial in closer. Quickly she pulled away to turn her head to the floor. The fear of getting closer to the truth sent her into panic causing her to pick at her skin again. "Looks like I hit the mark on that one… You said you work with Alphys and your mom loved anime…Paps is good friends with Undye, she's best pals with Alphys …In fact, she's a giant otaku….So that means ..." Grasping onto Arial's bony arm keeping her from nervously picking her flesh off.

"She's my adopted mother alright….so please leave her out of this." Arial snapped in a low voice while trying to break free from Sans. Not liking the fact, her mother was being brought into this discussion. "None of it is her fault."

"You're guilty about something…Does it have to do with the flower, then?" Sans yelled almost forgetting for second that Papyrus was just in the other room. Pausing a bit to listen and make sure he didn't overhear them. "So you do have a connection with that demon flower." whispering as a blue light covered most of his left skull.

"Not anymore …So please drop it." Pleading as Arial tried tugging the bony fingers off her arm. The grasp on her arm was becoming tighter the more she tries forcing Sans,off.

"Then tell me at least how you have skeleton's magic."

"Can't!"

"Why not!"

"Made a promise."

"Promises are meant to be broken."

"No, they're not….This is why I never wanted us to meet …Unlike Papyrus you never know when to give up"

"Giving up?...Little hard to do that when you have a little brother who needs your protection…"

"Ugg…You're just like him"

"Him?….Your creator? Would it happen to be a male, then?"

"Um, Ariel…Sans…Did I miss something?" Papyrus asked nervously, seeing magical bones covered in purple and blue lights, hanging over their heads while both of them were staring at each other. Slowly, he started walking towards them holding two very large bowls of spaghetti.

"We were just talking about puzzles….I hear you're a master at solving them." Arial lied through her teeth. The human eye came back into focus as the purple bones puffed out of existence. Smiling sweetly at Papyrus, she took a bowl of food from him. Feeling a bit excited to try spaghetti that didn't come from a can. She soon changes her mind when all she could taste was mushed noodles and ketchup. It was awful, there were no spices at all. Stomach starting to rumble as she started to miss frozen dinners. Looking over to the side, she could see Sans had no problem getting the food down.

"Then let's do the crossword puzzle together."

"Paps you know I hate those."

"Think of it as punishment for all the puns I had to endure today…I almost forgot Undye is on phone requesting Ariel's presents". Papyrus pulled a cellphone out of his blue briefs and held it out to Arial. She knew that skeletons didn't have genitals but it still felt uncomfortable taking something that may have touched his pubic bone.

"How about you put it on speaker, Paps? So we can all hear while we eat your speg-tacular spaghetti." Sans chuckled placing the empty bowl on the floor before leaning back into the couch. Pleased to hear that Undye was not dusted in this timeline. This call was just maybe what he needs to finish this little game of cat and mouse.

"That's a good idea, brother. That way Ariel doesn't have to repeat anything back to us, later."

"Yup."

Part of Arial wanted to leap from the couch and grab the phone, but she really didn't want to touch it. Seeing she was from both worlds, a skeleton monster's lower half was no different than a human male putting an object in their underpants. It felt so dirty…She was positive that Papyrus didn't wear any tighty whities either. So, nope she was not going to touch it even if it meant some of the truth coming out. She just had to be careful what she said and hope Undye didn't spill the beans about Gaster or them being her brothers. "Miss Undye... How did you know I was with Papyrus?"

"See Alphy…. I told you she was alright and Sans didn't kill her…She's a strong kid..."

"Um….You're both on speaker?" Arial gulped at the mention of her mother's name. She was screwed.

"What up?" Sans eyes light up in excitement seeing Arial was squirming in her seat. Little displeased that Undye thought he was going to kill the girl. Sure scared her a bit and messed with her head. It's all for the show to get some questions answered. Murdering others was not his cup of tea unless you count all those times he killed the demon child. The girl was behaving herself so no point in dusting her...yet

"Why would you think my brother would kill her?…She's our friend." Papyrus was puzzled at the statement Undye had made. Sans was too lazy to hurt a fly. Then again, many times he noticed Sans and Arial's eyes socket glowing tiny balls of magic. Where they tried to terminate each other for some reason?

"Um….Um….You boys…are being rude listening to a private call." Alphy's voice was shaking a bit, trying to scold the boys, over the phone.

"Are we not all pals here?" San chuckled placing his hand in his coat.

"Well..."

"Mom, where are you?"

"Don't…. worry…we are in a safe place…"

"For a sack of lazy bones, you did a super cool job, Sans…. Fighting off humans even at the cost of losing your life…It's like something out an anime…It was super awesome" Undye's voice boomed over the phone causing Papyrus to hold the phone further away from him. In the background, an unknown cheering could be heard.

"Is the human still alive?" Arial asked hoping the danger was over so she could go home. After today, she really needed a warm hug from her mother. She was happy to spend some time with Papyrus, but Sans on other hand was another story. Whatever he dished out she could take. If six years in a secret laboratory taught her anything, what didn't kill you, made you stronger. They were sibling after all and it didn't change how she felt about both of them.

"Yes…. In Hotland right now…Don't worry we were able to evacuate all regions in time, but..." Alphy's calm voice started to take on a saddened tone.

"The king wouldn't leave the throne room…I know, I'm the captain of the Royal Guard and it's my job to protect the King, but…" Undyne is usual powerful upbeat voice was replaced with disappointment and regret.

"Don't sweat it Undyne, you're right where you need to be." Sans tried reassuring her.

"You kids just hang in tight...I promise I will find a way get all of you here safely" Undye spoke trying to sound confident in her words

"Undye…Issss….Mettaton with you…I tried calling him, no answer." Papyrus clapping the phone in worry as his mind drifted off into space. While he was making dinner he had tried calling his sweetheart.

"Um…..they're are a lot of monsters here Papyrus…Once I find him, I will make sure he calls you." Undye voice cracked.

"Alright" Papyrus spoke in a weak defeated tone, taking a seat on the couch next to Sans. The human was in Hotland and the same place as MMT building, where his dear star, worked. Knowing Mettaton, he probably tried to show off his skill and capture the human. An orange tear rolled down Papyrus's cheek, as he pulled his knees closer to his chest.

"I'm sure he's fine, bro…He's really a ghost after all." Sans sigh while patting his younger brother on the skull. It was not alright, he could feel it in his gut. This was one of those timelines where every monster bumped into the demon kid and ended up dusted. They were lucky that lady luck was smiling on them back near the Ruins. Then again, destiny could be playing a cruel joke on Papyrus. Sans didn't like Mettaton at all, but he loved his little brother. With each timeline that went, their souls grew more in love with each. So there was no denying it now, they were soulmates. If Papyrus found out the truth that Menttaton, could lead him to du….Sans shivered at the horrible thought that turned his attention to Arial, who looked lost in her thoughts poking at the bowl of spaghetti on her lap. "You haven't seen a fire monster wearing glass and…."

"Grillbz?" Arial spoke in a weak voice looking over at Sans. With the battle and all crazy stuff that happened she almost forgot that Grillby was also caught up in the same mess as everyone else. In the back of her mind, a voice kept saying he was alright and don't worry, but after knowing it was possible that her mother's childhood friend, Mettaton could be dead. Her heart ached; wanting so badly to hear Grillby's voice to reinsure that he was alright.

"Hold on….Alphy is going to find your…Boy….Friend." Undye snickered.

"What…We are just friends." Arial shouted dropping her plate of food on the floor and leaping over Sans to get closer to the phone.

"Sure whatever you say kid….Here they come."

Sans laughed watching as Arial pulled her shirt over her head again. "I see London…I see France…I see Ariel's underpants" Sans chuckled in low voice leaning down a bit for the girl to hear him.

"Arial…Sans….Papyrus?" Grillby spoke in a calm pleasant voice.

"Hey, Grillbz." Sans snickered watching as Arial tried to figure out if she wanted to use the shirt to hide her head or underwear. Teenage girls were strange creatures. One min they are crying and then yelling and then shy as fuck.

"Hey, Sans….Arial…..Umm….."

"He thinks your battle with the flower monster, is super cool." Undye laughed while Grillby mumbled something that couldn't be made out of words.

"You were watching?….Ugh" Arial face planted right into Sans's lap, but quickly bounce back up realizing what she had done.

"All of us were watching…You were a bit scary at times" Grillby spoke in proud, but also timid voice.

"Did anyone see my face?" Arial asked in a panic, covering her face with her arms.

"No…c...cameras were too far away so…y..you're safe, sweetie," Alphys reassured in a motherly voice.

"Sans…what does she look like," Grillby asked with a hint of curiosity.

"Cute if you're into hybrid girls…Want me to take a photo for you?" Sans asked pulling out his cellphone and placing a hand on Arial's head, to keep her still.

"What?"

"SANS!" Arial cried while trying to knock the cell phone out of San's hand.

"Don't you want to send him a skele-fie." Sans chuckled while wrapping an arm around her waist pulling her close to him.

"No!" Arial snapped pushing against his chest with one hand while the other took hold of the cellphone. Next thing they knew they were both wrestling on the floor, trying to take ownership, of the phone.

"Don't be shy" Sans laughed, winning the battle while pinning her down with bone weight. A light flickered from the cellphone. "And send!"

"You both sound like sib...…." Grillby chuckled but was cut off by a sound of buzzing noise. Arial cries in defeat while planting her face into the carpet. In the background, a few monsters were screaming "Fire!" and Undyne was laughing hysterically.

"Never knew a fire monster could blush like that… interesting" Alphys voice was staring travel way.

"ALPHYS…Who's Ariel's father?" Sans blurted out, hoping that the dino's scientific curiosity has not gotten the better of her.

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmm"

"I'M" Undyne replied in an alarming, booming voice.

"Undynnnnnnnnnnnn."

"Well….I was hoping that…"

"It's my dad wasn't it" Sans sigh getting a little tired of everyone avoiding the question. Slowly getting off of Arial before plopping back onto the couch

"Yyyyyyyyyyy…Yes" Alphy spoke in weak apologetic, voice.

"Wait does that mean…Ariel is my sister?" Papyrus finally spoke after what felt like hours of telling himself that Mettaton was alright. Like Sans said, his lover is a ghost. If the robotic body did get damaged, Mettaton could just slip out of it and go through the walls to get away. Papyrus was one of the few, that knew what Mettaton's ghost form looked like, so of course, he was in the safe zone, undercover. Ghost had ectoplasm body, so carrying a cell phone would be too hard to do. So he had to believe everything was alright. Looking over at Sans, Papyrus could see him nodding his head to the question he asked. Quickly leaping off the couch, he scooped Arial into a big tight hug.

"Little sister." Arial muffled as she tried moving her body, but Papyrus was too strong and had her locked to his chest.

"Wowie….I'm a big brother, Sans." Papyrus jumps up and down in excitement before pulling her away to hold her out in front of him. He should have noticed it sooner. She was half skeleton, bad puns, and being super cool in battle. Only the Great Papyrus would have an awesome and interesting little sister.

"How… did… you figure it out" Alphys asked in a shaky voice.

"Only someone with our DNA can use our skeletons limbs…She also drops little clues that I put together…She's kind of bad at keeping secrets…" Sans leaned over to pick up the cellphone, Papyrus had dropped out of excitement. "Paps may be great at puzzles so I'm…I just need someone else to confront it…Thanks, Alphys" before pushing the end call, button. "Ariel….Soooo… what happened to our Dad?"

"I don't know…." Arial groaned while Papyrus carried her over to the couch and placed her between his legs. Her insides felt a little bit nauseous. Not sure if it was the food, having the truth come out, jumping or everything above. She leaned back into Papyrus and wondered what she was going to do next. She failed her creator's experiment, now she was failing to keep his dark secret. There was no place to run now that the cat was out of the bag "There may be clues in the secret laboratory, built under the Royal Laboratory."

"If I teleport us to the Royal Laboratory, you can take me there….Right?" Sans asked nicely, pat Arial on the head. "It's importation I find Dad or his work."

"No…I can't go back there!" Arial screamed remembering the giant metal cow shaped skull machine and beams of light focused on her…Skeleton hand covered the right eye socket while tears formed under her eyelid.

"Don't worry Sister….The Great Papyrus will protect you." Papyrus laughed brushing his skull against her flesh trying to comfort her and hoped he was doing it right. It was kind of hard not know what to do when sixteen years of your life, you thought you were the baby of the family, and only had an older brother to worry about. Arial's reaction to the secret laboratory seemed like an awful place to go. Just like Sans, he wanted to find their father too.

"Right, one happy skele-fam…" Sans stopped and noticed static, buzzing around his skull. Looking across from the couch, all colors were washed out only leaving black and white tones. He tries to reach out, but his body was stuck in place. Black spots appeared on the walls, couch, on Papyrus skull. It spread like a virus, swallowing everything in its path. Sans stopped struggling, there was nothing he could do. Time was reseting and like always everything was going to be erased. There were still questions that needed to be answered, but that just had to wait until next timeline. All He could do was stay calm and let the darkness take over….Out of nowhere an orange-blue glowed around his chest as movement returned to his bones. Looking up to see transparent glowing skeleton hand grasped his coat, holding on to him as everything around him disappeared into a bright light.


	12. Chapter 11

A wave of light splashed against a blue winter jacket, being pulled into a sea of darkness. The only sources of light were beamed from thousands of flat rectangles, floating quietly around. Each displaying moving image of lives that seemed so familiar to the eye, but so far from reach. Sans watched as one rectangle under his slippers displayed his loving brother, jumping up and down with Arial in arms before placing the girl onto the carpet. Then walking backward before slumping over, as if he hearing the worst news in his life. A short skeleton, appeared to be Sans, hopped off the couch and walked backward then sat on Arial before a wrestling match broke out between them, over a phone.

It was like watching a film of your life, but everything was in reverse. Other screens displayed other parts of the Underground, also playing backward. What was this place and what was up with the odd televisions that displayed his world? This was not the Underground. He looked up to see glowing transparent hands were clinging to his jacket, dragging him away from the cluster of screens. He didn't like being dragged to an unknown place. Sans wiggled in the jacket until he was able to slip out. The transparent hands kept on drifting away with his blue jacket, in hand. Sans looked around trying to figure out which way to swim, to get back home. It was useless, there were millions of cluster of lights floating around. It was hard to tell which was up and which was down. Loneliness and fear washed over his blue soul as everything looked the same. The floating screens of light were spread through the darkness. When he finally reached a cluster, a clear image of a tall skeleton with an orange hoodie drinking a bottle of honey was talking to a human child with rosy cheeks at what appeared to be Grillby's, but with a spider, bartender displayed on a rectangle with an orange glow around it. On another screen, there was a tiny skeleton wearing a blue scarf making tacos with a buff yellow dino monster. It appeared to be the Underground, but everything was topsy-turvy. Sans sighed as he carefully maneuvered out of the cluster while heading towards the next one. Sure it looked close to his world, but not home.

The next cluster was beaming red lights as a screen displayed a sharp-teethed skeleton with cracks near both of the eye sockets, pinning a helpless human child with flowers covering parts of his face, in the snow. Out of nowhere, bones burst through the snow, piercing the poor child in the heart. A silent scream escaped as a yellow flower resembling Flowey, cried as he watched the pure white snow, dye the color red. The sight of it left a bad taste in Sans' mouth as he spotted a screen above that had a short skeleton, with a golden tooth, and wearing a black jacket with fur lining just standing there and watching the bloodbath. This was all wrong, killing a child in cold blood is not right. Sure his hands were dirty from killing Frisk in so many timelines, but only if the Kid steps onto the dark path. What was with the flowers growing out of the kid's head? His attention was turned away from the screen as two large transparent buttons appeared in front of him display the word reset and continue. A little red heart floated in his way as it took on the shape of a transparent child outlined in crimson red. Sans watched quietly as the child pushed the reset button. The entire image on the screen froze before going backward as the ghost child disappeared into the darkness. So was this the power to reset the world? Sans decided to move on and leave the question alone until he found his own world. After what felt like hours of watching the different clusters of screens, it was clear now that these were not his world or timelines, but other alternate universes. Sans wished he had the time to explore all universes in more depth, but he was starting to worry about his own. Did it finish resetting and was

Papyrus freaking out because he was not there or was the world frozen in time waiting for him to return? He needs to get back to his own universes. There were still too many unsolved questions that need answering.

Maybe the next area would be home, just a little bit further. A chill ran up the spine as Sans felt something smooth and wet slide up under the cotton shirt. Quickly looking over his shoulder noticing a black figure the same height as his own, with four black tentacles on its back. One tentacle was already slowly making its way up to the rib cage. Sans was too terrified to move as he felt it tightly pressing hard on his blue soul. The white light in Sans's eyes grows dim, a moment away from death's door. Beams of light, shot through the dark causing the black tentacle creature to slide away from San and spill quickly into the darkness. Sans was left a bit blind as blurry blue hands grabbed each of his arms and lead him through the darkness. After what just happen it was a probably a lot safer to let the hands lead than go alone, again. Maybe it would lead back to his universe. When his vision finally came back, he noticed above his head was a large disfigured ram skull, appeared to be transparent with a blue and orange eye. Its bony features were covered in cracks, and a large chunk was missing where the left eye should have been. If Sans had a guess, it was some kind of blaster. The ghostly transparent skull and hand lead him into a cluster of screens glowing white mixed with a bit of purple color. Unlike other universes, this one appeared to be frozen in time. One displayed Alphys, watching something on television while eating popcorn, one screen Undyne was doing a push up on the floor that appeared be part of her room, and the other had Arial covered in sweat, grasping onto her covers for dear life. Seeing her was a clue that he was finally back where he belongs. This was the only universe he was sure she existed in. This brought a calming relief that Sans was finally home. The only question now was how to go back? The first thing would be to find an image of Papyrus or anything that looked like the skeleton brother's home. Near the end of his journey there it was, an image of a room with trash scattered across the floor and a broken down mattress. Blues tears streamed down the side of his skull as a bony hand reached out to take the image. The closer the bony hand got, the brighter his blue soul glowed in happiness. Just a few more inches and Sans would be…

Unknown White fingers slide across the bedroom image while a massively distorted creature was slowly pulling on it. A mute scream burst out of Sans' mouth as he frantically tries to grab onto the image. It was useless with the glowing hands holding on to him. All hope that was left in his soul vanishes while the screen was pulled in the ghostly black body. There before the young skeleton was a monster with hollow black eyes and a boney face. The right eye socket had a large crack going up its forehead while the other side had one going down into the creature's smiling mouth. The ghostly hands holding Sans captured, released him as it floated in-between him and the monster.

 **"💧✌n💧!** **"**

Strange symbols in glowing blue light, appeared over the ghost's hands as it made gestures that Sans could not understand. It appeared to be some kind of text which looked familiar, but couldn't place where he has seen those symbols before. The hand gestures had been signed language. Whatever the monster was trying to say, it was useless, as Sans couldn't make heads or tails with any of it. Sans opened his mouth to tell the monster he didn't understand and demand the screen back, but there was no voice to speak.

 **"❄h✋💧 ✋💧 ❄he ✞o✋👎. ❄here ✋💧 no 💧o🕆n👎** **."**

Again the monster tries to communicate with different hand gestures and symbols. Sans was starting to lose patience with this thing. If they couldn't communicate to each other than force was the only option to get back the image of his bedroom. The white lights flickered out in Sans' eyes as it left a burning blue fire of anger. The Gaster Blaster materialized overhead, waiting for its master's orders. It was a dangerous move to pull out the big gun, but seeing that monster had a blaster too, he was not going to take any chances. The monster tilts its head to the side while a bony hand reached into its ghostly black body and pulled out a tiny dark purple speck of light.

 **"👎o ✡o🕆 re💣e💣👌er ✌ g✋rl n✌💣e👎, ✌l✋👍e?"**

The purple speck slipped out of its hands through a large hole carved into the monster's hand. The light flickered weakly as it drifts over to Sans. There was something about this light that seemed familiar. Deep down in his blue soul, he dearly wanted to remember as a bony hand reached out to take hold of the speck.

 **"👎on'❄ ❄o🕆👍h her!"**

The monster's smile twisted into an oval shape as it was clinging onto Sans' hand. Pulling the terrified skeleton close to its body. In the corner of San's eye, he could see a purple speck turning dark purple as it raced towards them. The warmth that Sans though he felt earlier from the speck was dripping with anger.

 **"✌l✋👍e, 👎on'❄ ❄o🕆👍h 💧✌n💧…✋❄🕯💧 ❄✋💣e, ✡o🕆 re❄🕆rne👎 ho💣e."**

With a free hand, the monster quickly grabs the speck and shoved it into a nearby light screen. Light splashed against his hand as his face twisted in pain while pulling it out. Opening the hand slowly to see nothing was there, but a crack forming around the hole in the center of its hand. Sans watched in horror as a tiny bone fragment chip, floated pass his eye socket. If he tries going back, would the light from the screen, damage his body too? He had to take chances and get back home to Papyrus. Without him, time could not move forward. Pink slippers pushed against the deformed monster skull's chin bone while his free hand desperately tries to find the screen in the ghastly black body of his capturer.

 **"✋'💣 💧orr✡ for ❄h✋💧📪 💧✌n💧** **."**

A silent scream escaped San while throwing his head back in pain. A sharp wave of magic went up to his spine as something pressed its way into his rib cage. Orange-Blue light beaming from the cotton white shirt as the monster used it's free hand to send waves of its own magic into Sans' soul. Whatever was happening, it didn't feel like his soul was being crushed, but something was adding to the blue heart, which shouldn't be there. Which caused every bone in his fiber to rattle in discomfort. His mind became hazy; wash out colors of black, orange, and red came into focus. Mind swirling around until Sans could see he was standing on a metal bridge and a folder with scattered sheets all around his feet. A gust of steam blew through the metal wiring lift up sheets of paper and something that felt like a tail of a long coat. Sans tried to look and see what he was wearing, but his body wouldn't move an inch.

"They call us monsters," an unseen male voice sighed as San's hand moved on its own, picking up files. When the files were gathered up and placed neatly into the folder. His body stood up and faced the scene in front of him. Out in the distances, shrieks and screams could be heard as lava splashed against fleshy bodies. The flesh melted like candle wax as it oozes down their skull before they sunk into the fire pit of lava. Up above, more cries joined as humans of different color and age where dropped quickly into a pool of fire flames. Still alive as lava slowly stripped them of their humanity enduring hellish death.

This was too much for Sans to watch as he tries pleading for his body to turn away. Why would someone toss a dozen of humans to their death? Where was that male he heard early coming from? Were they standing next to him? No that was not right; the voice was echoing coming from inside. The body turns away and started to walk away from all the death, but stopped when notching tiny fingers latching onto a side of the rocky cliff trying to hold on for dear life. "What do we have here?" the unknown male said with a tiny bit of excitement rattled in the bone.

This brought little relief to Sans as he watched a tiny blue glow formed around the tiny thing's chest. It panics as it felt its body was being lifted away from the rocks. Wigging its body as it desperately tries to brush the blue glow off its chest. Not realizing the magic had a hold of their soul, not the body.

"Stay still or I may accidentally drop you into the volcano…That's a good….girl" Hovering in front was a little human girl with long black hair pulled into a messy ponytail. Dirt and few spots of blood stained onto her white underdress with a saddle bag across her chest. A skeleton hand reached up for the child pulling her into a hug. "What's this?" puzzlement was in the male's voice as their bony hand carefully rubbed a black spot that covered the girl's right cheek thinking it was soot.

The mark would not come off and it was not only a black spot on the girl. There was some on the shoulder and tiny ones on her bare feet. When the child tried to speak, nothing came out as the girl made a coughing motion. With fatigue in her eyes, she looked up at her savior while blood started to slowly drip down the side of her lips.

The next thing Sans knew, the body was running at top speed with the child tightly pushed into their chest. Everything came to a halt as large white doors were pushed open of the Royal Laboratory. The mind panicked as Sans could hear someone else's thoughts worrying about germ warfare, outbreak, and damaged voice box.

"Gaster….Honey, what do you have there?" A frighten female called out as tiny footsteps were chasing behind Sans. In the corner of his eyes, was a thin female skeleton wearing a blue dress with a long red scarf flowing behind her. Did this lady just refer him as…not him but the monster he was inside, as

Gaster? Then that meant he was inside his father, but how? Could this female skeleton be his mother? Did his soul go back into the past and now reliving an event that happened to his father?

"It's a patient…Get the quarantine room ready!" Gaster shouted in fear, a bony hand was placed on a door opening as a flash of light blinding Sans' vision for a second. When everything came back into focus, there was a laptop sitting front of him with the strange font being typed out onto a computer document. It was very similar to symbols the black-white monster had used in place with all different universes.

"Are you sure she was not going to affect Sansy." Sans' mother spoke in a worried tone as the lid of the laptop closed shut by a bony hand with very long delicate digits.

"I tested every monsters' DNA a million times, there are no side effects….Whatever it seems to only affect humans." Gaster spoke in an unsure voice, placing his own hand over the smaller ones. Gently bringing her hands to his mouth making a kissing sound. In front view was a lovely female monster giggling while wearing armor with delta rune crest on the chest plate. Did this mean that Sans' mother was once part of the Royal Guards? The only memory of his mother's clothing choices was the blue dress and scarf. Never in his life did his father mention her being part of the Royal Guards. So why was this kept from Papyrus and him? Then again, the skeleton family never talked about anything that dealt with the Royal family. Gaster worked for the King as the Royal Scientist but never discussed his research to anyone. Sans never bothered to ask his father about his work in fear of ruining their family bonding time.

"Thank goodness….Do you think you can cure her?" Sans' mother asked pulled away from Gaster and turned her attention away while looking down at something in front of her.

"Looks like human scientists couldn't cure it, so out of fear they tossed the sick ones into the volcano…Maybe with magic and science, I can find a cure…..What is it, Bel?" Gaster asked as he stood up to see Sans' mother had a bit of sadness in her eyes as she pat the human girl wearing a black rabbit hood and playing with building blocks. Next to her was a baby skeleton on his back while trying to put a foot in his mouth. The adult skeletons laughed before Bel picked up the infant and places him on her lap.

"I was wondering if we could adopt Alice….I know it's my job to take humans to the King…she's such a good girl and she gets along with Sansy...What is it, little one?" Bel asked the little human child holding up a notepad. In crayon was the word "food". "Alright, but right now I'm talking to daddy…It's kind of not fair that the Royal Family can't adopt a human child of their own…The poor dear needs us.." She remarked while rocking tiny Sans in her arms.

"Still, we need to let the King known…I don't want our family branded as traitors..." Gaster looked down to see Alice was tugging on his lab coat while holding up a notebook. Written on page 'What's a traitor?' " It's another way to say someone betrayed another." He patted her on the head as she quickly wrote 'I'm the enemy.'

"No dear you are not the enemy…It's just some monsters are scared of humans…." Bel answered as Alice wrote on the notepad "Sans" ."Well, that's because Sansy is your friend…Alright…alright, he's your brother." She laughed as both she and Gaster looked at Alice who was very upset, with her arms crossed.

"It's getting late and Sans need his nap…You, young lady, need to learn sign language…It would be a lot faster if you just sign everything than writing." Gaster sighed while looking back over at his soulmate and baby. Sans wondered if any of this information was importation and how it was possible to see any of this. Seeing that he didn't remember the human child's name was Alice, then the only conclusion was that she died from her illness in the end. There was no way that his parent was heartless monsters that would easily hand her over to the King. Then again could this be linked to Arial or resets?

"What would the two of you like for dinner?" Bel asked standing up with a sleepy baby in her arms. Alice smiled as she wrote 'pasta' on the notebook page while pulling on the white lab coat.

"I agree to spaghetti…with ketchup?" Gaster laughed while Alice stuck her tongue out in response. Sans chuckled watching her draw pictures of stick figures wearing a long coat and ketchup bottles for the head. The kid had a sense of humor. Deep down he was a bit jealous of her and baby Sans innocents. What did the world have in store for them both, a path to death and misfortune just around the corner?

"Dear, I don't think she likes ketchup in her sauce."

"It's a family tradition."

"Alright...Sansy, say night, night to your big sissy." Bel giggled holding up a tiny bone hand making sleeping baby wave good night. The older Sans vision started became blurring as he watched his mother became farther and farther away. Screaming as he called out to his mother to come back. He was not ready to go, he wanted to spend more time with his parents even if it meant watching from the sideline. Darkness covered his soul as it slipped into the quietness of nothing.

 **((OOC: Just in case you wondering which AU I was referring to,** UnderSwap, **FlowerFell, and Nightmare Sans. I couldn't get all Wingding text to work so I had use some normal English letters. :( Here translator: .ru/static/wingdings_ . One more note, this will be the only chapter that HT Sans going come in contact with other AU.))**


	13. Chapter 12

A heavenly melody filled the air while birds chirped to their heart content, sitting on a roof covered in piles of snow and Christmas lights going around the trim. Down below, sunlight was bouncing off the snow as it peered through the tiny opening between the curtains. It was a semi blackened bedroom as the white light danced on the skeleton's skull, who was clinging to the bed sheets for dear life. Mumbling screams under their breath.

"SANS….SANS…SANS…Wake up please!" Papyrus screamed in a hoarse voice for Sans to wake. Sure the older brother had terrible dreams from time to time, but never one that made his soul glow two different colors, blue and orange. It was a rare case for monsters to have a soul glowing more than one color unless you had been born with it. It just didn't happen out of anywhere. Could be some unknown sicknesses that affect the soul? Sans' screaming grew into a shriek while blue lights flickered in the left eye socket. The bony hand released the bed sheet, desperately clawing at his cotton shirt trying to get a hold of the soul. "SANS…NO!" Papyrus cried jumping onto the bed while taking hold of the older brother's hands and pinned them to the side.

Orange tears streamed down the side of Papyrus' face as he wondered what he should do. He needs to call for help but if he lets go, there was no telling what Sans would do once he got hold of his own heart. Quickly Papyrus released his hands and unwrapped the scarf around his neck. Looking down he could see tiny rips slashed in Sans' shirt as he used his scarf, to tightly tie the older one's hands up. "I need to call…Undyne…her friend should be able to help you." Papyrus tried calming himself while sitting himself on top of Sans, so the short skeleton wouldn't try anything else to harm himself more.

"Paps…Your bony butt is jabbing my ribs." Sans spoke in a weak voice out of nowhere as he looked up at the younger terrified brother. "HEY!" he shouted, as Papyrus lifted up his shirt.

Papyrus sighed in relief to see the orange light in Sans' soul was gone. Whatever it was, hopefully it was gone. Just to make sure he needs to get his older brother to a doctor. Would his brother be willing to go? Even Papyrus was having a hard time believing what just happen. "Sans...I'm not sure how to explain this, but you need to see a doctor, NOW!"

Sans was deeply confused with what was going on here. Did something happen while he was sleeping and why were his arms tied up? The last thing he remembers was seeing their mother carrying him as a baby. That was right; he was in the Royal Laboratory with his parents and a human girl. Then he blacked out and woke up here in his universe, hopefully, it was his world. Everything in the room seemed to be in order, except for the fact; Papyrus was on top of him. Could this be one of those worlds where they were intimate with each other? Sure Sans was a playboy, but never in his wild dream, he wanted an incest relationship with his little brother. "Anything you say, bro…But could you explain why it looks like you are trying to seduce me?" He asked, hoping there was a good reason to all of this.

"I the Great Papyrus am many things, but I can reassure you, I'm not that…I was trying to keep you from ripping your soul apart. It was glowing blue and orange." Papyrus replied undoing the red scarf around San's hands.

"Orange?" Sans snapped in shock slipping out from under the tall skeleton. Noticing the rips in his white tee, he zipped up the jacket to hide it. Did that creepy monster do something to his blue soul? It didn't feel any different, but Papyrus was right. After what was happening lately, going to see Alphys would be the best and it was a chance to see Arial, too. "Maybe you're rubbing off on me, Paps…I do feel a little more pep than usual." chuckling while placing a hand on the little brother's shoulder before their bodies slowly fade away leaving behind an empty bedroom.

Blue lights flickered in front of the Royal Laboratory. In the center of blue beams, a dark shadow was forming into colorful shapes. In the blink of an eye, the blue light disappeared leaving the skeletons brothers in front of a doorless building. Inside, they could hear a wicked laughter as they started walking slowly into the building. In was rude to enter someone's home without asking, but Sans had a bad feeling about something. There was a bit of blood lust in the air, similar to one Papyrus displayed in the last timeline. He had the right to be worried as a shower of transparent blue spears, blocked their path.

"Undyne!" Papyrus called out watching as his best friend kicked the unknown hooded monster in the stomach. The monster went flying in the air dropping a staff weapon with a long blade, onto the ground. Their body rolled a few times before it came to a complete stop. The young skeleton took it as an opportunity to run up to his pal. He was not sure what was going on, but the fight needs to stop now. Orange flickered in Papyrus' eye sockets as a bone appeared in his right hand. The orange soul hidden by his rib cage had ordered to protect the hooded monster at all cost. "STOP!" he screamed grabbing onto the blue scaled arm hoping to end the fight before something terrible happen.

"Papyrus!?" Undye snapped at the young skeleton while using her free hand to break free from his grip. Didn't that fool see she was in the middle of a battle and why was he glaring at her with this intent to kill? This was unlike Papyrus, who was usually known to be a kind-hearted monster that would never hurt a fly. The warrior's job was protecting the kingdom and citizen at all cost. Right now her soul was telling her to destroy the hooded creature, but why? Undyne's mind became fuzzy while trying to remember what the point of the fight was in the first place. She came to the laboratory to protect Alphys from this girl. Didn't her crush tell her hours ago that she wanted her to meet someone importation to her? Undyne loved Alphys dearly and at the moment, they were just friends. If there was anything between the mystery girl and the yellow dino, it was a friend's job to be happy for the other friend. There was no proof of this or proof that harm had come to Alphys either. Instead of fighting, she should have been looking for her crush.

"What are you all doing?" a female voice cried from another side of the laboratory. Alphys slowly walked past the broken glass, smashed machines, and cracks in the tile flooring. The sight of seeing giant cracks in the main computer was almost enough to make the yellow dino, faint. She kept her composure while scanning the area for a hooded girl. If Undyne did this much damage, what state was her daughter in. "Arial!" she screamed seeing the girl lay motionless on the ground with Sans kneeling down next to her.

Sans sighed in relief as the dark bloodlust aura had finally disappeared from the room. It seemed like whenever Papyrus thought Arial was in danger, the intent to kill the potential threat came over him. What was puzzling was what caused Undyne to attack Arial in the first place? He was sure in the last timeline, both of them were on good terms and the water monster even joked about being the girl's father. All of this was just too much for short skeleton to handle. Sans' mind was screaming as it tried to process all the unanswered question. Maybe if he was lucky, Arial was cursed with remembering the timeline as well. He carefully placed the girl's head in his lap, lightly touched his forehead, a green light glowed from his hand. "Your daughter is alright." Looking up to see a terrified Alphys covering most of her face with her giant claws.

"Sans…How….do..." Alphys was shocked at the skeleton's words. She knew that Sans was super smart, but how did he come to that conclusion? Arial looked nothing like her and they didn't even share the same DNA, either.

"It's a long story, Alphys. I will tell you later...Right now, I think you need to talk to Undyne, her scales look a little roughed up." Sans calmly waved her away.

"ALPHY, did he just refer that thing as you're….daughter?" Undyne asked in a puzzled voice. It felt like her head was on a spin cycle and couldn't comprehend what was going on. Alphys never mention she had a daughter or had been with other females. Unlike humans, monsters didn't need the opposite sex to have a child. Baby monsters were created when two monsters deeply love each other and wished for a child. Pieces of their magical soul would bound together to create a new soul. After that, it depends on the monster race on how the child was born. Wait, Alphys was a scientist, maybe she created her? The only stuff Undyne ever saw Alphys make was mechanical stuff. Was she that smart to create life? "Did you create her?"

Alphys sighed as she looked at Undyne. After all these years, it was finally time to tell her best friend, one of her secrets. It would be lying to say there was no fear in her heart as the large yellow feet slowly slid across the tile floor dragging her limp tail, behind her. Would Undyne understand or hate her? It was too late to turn back now "No…. Dr. Gaster ….he's the...the one...that creat...ed her to b...break the barrier….I'm not...sure what hap...pen….This poor child…I found her locked up...in the lab...a...a..alone…So I took her in and raised her." Her eyelids lowered in shame.

"Sans, is that true?" Papyrus asked jogging over to his older brother, in excitement. No wonder he was determined to protect the hooded stranger. If she was the skeleton brother's sister, it must have been a sibling bond caused him to react that way towards Undyne. Sans nodded his head as he tries to tune in what Alphys and Undyne were discussing.

Undyne was a little upset with her best friend for keeping this big secret until now. She understands why and she couldn't be mad at that cutie forever. If the hooded kid was an experiment created by Royal Science, then she had been royal property. Guessing the way Alphys was speaking, the King had no clue that the child lived or ever existed in the first place. It was the captain of the Royal Guard's duty, to report things like this to the King. Which could lead to having her daughter taken away forever and Alphys losing the title of Royal Scientist. Undyne could never betray Alphys' trust even if meant being branded as a traitor to the capital. She loved the sweet yellow dino with all her heart and would do anything for her. "Wow! Alphy! YOU'RE A HERO!" She laughed while placing her hands on her hips and threw her head back. She laughed her head off like a mad woman until she couldn't breathe anymore. "You Got Guts! I would have never done that…..I'm sorry about messing up your lab and ruffing up your daughter a bit. Don't worry I will not tell." she grinned while gently patting Alphys' horns.

Alphys' heart leaped into her throat as blush spread across those yellow cheeks. It was only a simple pat on the head, but enough to make her heart beat, like mad. "Tha..nk…you!" Alphys mumbled feeling a bit weak in the knees.

"Papyrus…could you look after Ariel?...I'm going have a talk with the Doc," Sans asked as the younger brother nods his head while carefully taking the girl from him. Sans rolled his eyes while watching the scene before him, turning all lovely dove. The only new information he learned was that Arial used to be part of a project to break the barrier. If his memory served him correctly, ten years ago, they only had four human souls. Did his father create the girl in hopes of replacing the missing hearts? That couldn't be right. The requirement to break the barrier was seven human souls. It seemed Alphys had no clue about that research but it could be a lie. Sans wouldn't put it past her. If she was able to keep Arial a secret this long, why not Gagster's research notes. Seeing how long it took to get little information in the last timeline, it wouldn't surprise him it happens again. Sans groan at that thought. All of this is so frustrating to him. In order for him to gain any new information, he had to hear all of the same crap he already knew. To top it off, there was probably something wrong with his soul. "Seeing that you two lovebirds are back on good terms…I would love it if I could speak to the Doc…alone." He asked in bit demanding voice.

"Ummmmmmmmmmmm…Alright, Sans…that will be alright. Undyne….Why….don't you…and Papyrus take...Arial u...upstairs to watch….anime…or...or something…" Alphys mumbled a bit as her face turned a deep shade of pink.

There was a light shade of pink that spread on Undyne's face too, at the mention of them being lovebirds. They were not an official couple yet, but maybe soon. "Alright, Alphy...Come on Papyrus…Follow me and get ready to have your socks blown off." Undyne smirked waving for Papyrus to follower her while carrying Arial in his arms.

"This way… Sans, how did…." Alphys asked waving for the short skeleton to follow her as they walked down the long hallway.

"Today was the first time I meet her….I'm friends with Grillbz, who is also friends with your daughter and that's how I found out she was your daughter." Sans partly lied while looking at the tile under his pink slippers. It was a bit strange seeing the laboratory that had previously belonged to his father. Then again, in the last timeline, Arial mention a Secret Laboratory. Which meant the Royal Laboratory was nothing more than a peaceful cover-up to hide the dark secrets lurking in the true laboratory. Alphys was the one that freed Arial so she had to know about that laboratory too. Sans wouldn't be surprised if the shy scientist was also using the Secret Laboratory to conducted experiments. When he examined Arial's body in the last timeline, there were very old scars which were presumed his father may have done it. The thought that their father hurt others, especially a child, made his chest hurt. If Arial was telling the truth that she was younger than Papyrus, then that would make her at least six years older during the time his father disappeared. Before then, she was a caged up lab rat while her brothers got to enjoy life. Even after being free, Arial continued to live in the laboratory with a different scientist. If it were Sans, he would have run away and never again want to do anything related to science. Why did she stay? "Is there reasons why you kept her secret from her own brothers?…You're not experimenting on her too, are you." He asked with a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"I would never hurt my child!" Alphys snapped in anger while making tiny fits. How dare that skeleton to assume that she would be heartless like Gaster and harm an innocent child. In the beginning, she did do a lot of test on Arial, but nothing that would harm her. It was simple things like a blood test, checking the soul, x-rays, and other regiment doctors did to check on the child's development into adulthood. She took a deep breath trying to calm herself down. "She…asked…me too."

"Still not a good reason… I…..We..." Sans remarked, not liking the way those words, slipped out of his mouth. Why was he acting this way towards Alphys? It was clear the girls had a loving mother and daughter relationship. Could it be that he was disgusted with his father and himself for not being honest with others? Maybe if Gaster told him about the experiment, Sans could have helped find other solutions that didn't involve so much pain. Same could be said about Sans keeping timelines secret. It was terrifying, after what felt like years to let others into one's dark secret.

"Back then, you were all children…grieving over losing Dr. Gaster….your father. Yes….There was times…I wanted to tell you, boys…I had no right…It was Arial's decision to make…I want to keep her safe…Now that you know…Sans….What are you going do about Arial?" Alphys sighed while stopping in the front of the door and placing her hand on a keypad and unlocking clicking noises could be heard.

"I'm not sure how I feel about her …." Sans shrugged his shoulder while placing his hands into his jacket. There was so much mystery around the girl that he couldn't tell if she was a friend or foe. Sure they shared some of the same DNA, but sibling bond is something that grew from love and time. Right now the only family he had left was his younger brother, Papyrus. "Paps seemed super excited about having a sister."

"S...so why are you here?" Alphys asked as the door slid across the floor, revealing a tiny examination room. Shivers went up to her spin as yellow clawed feet touched the freezing flooring. Unlike most of the laboratory, this room was barely used seeing that most monsters knew how to heal themselves these days. Once in a while, monsters would visit to get a checkup or need medicine for a cold. The yellow monster took a seat in an office chair while reaching out to turn on a laptop display on the tiny table.

"Soul checkup," Sans replied standing in front of the examination table then lifting himself up onto it.

"W...why didn't you go t...to a doctor in Snowdin? …When w...was the last t...time you had one?" Alphys asked looking through the patient files to see if the skeleton had one under Hotland, records. Sadly there was no luck and calling the Snowdin Hospital for the records, would take too long. She would just have work with information she would receive from Sans.

"Eight years ago…Also, I want to meet the girl that my best pal has the Hots for." Sans said kicking his feet back and forth.

"SANS!…Soul checks v...very important, especially for LHP." Alphys snapped while clicking on a "new patient" document templet and type out the name "Sans Skeleton" in the name box. How careless could the young skeleton be so careless? Normal magical souls had many layers could withstand many attacks, mental and physical. Those that suffered from Low Heart Points, only had one layer to their soul.

"Wait how do you know I have that?!" Sans snapped back gripping the edge of the metal bed. The only doctor that knew that was his father.

"In my f...freshman year of college, Gaster u...use d to be my doctor… He only t...told me, because I have it t...too. I'm guessing Papyrus d...doesn't know?"

"Of course not."

"Unlike m...me ,…you have a lot of magic to p...protect yourself…but you need to b...be careful. One blow to the…"

"I'm, boned" Sans sighed, placing a hand over his chest as blue lights illuminated through his fingers. The bony hand slowly reached out in front of him as it opened to reveal a hovering blue heart. Alphys carefully took the blue heart into her clawed hand while lifting it up to the light.

"S…a….n…s…Has anyone….t...touched your...soul lately?… "Alphys' voice cracked, noticing a tiny orange lump on the back of the blue heart.

"You are, right now" Sans laughed to try to hide the fact he was feeling a bit uncomfortable having the scientist hold it. There were times during sex that he would let monster he trusted, like Muffet or Grillby, play with the blue soul. Unlike the common monster, a lot of scientists and doctors were skilled with knowledge of the magical soul. What if all those timelines did something to the soul and it wasn't noticed, till now? No way in hell he was going be someone's lab rat. "I'm into soul-sucking."

"No….I mean h...has anyone...used magic on y...your soul?….Have you been…s...seeing visions…t...that's not your own?" Alphys asked worriedly as her claw lightly touched the orange spot. "Ouch!" she cried as a shock zapped her claw.

"Well, I did have a creep try to use his orange-blue magic on me….and afterward I had been dreaming of the past, but it's not my own."

"T...this is bad…S...sans what you're experiencing is A...astral Heart….What it d...does is let monsters see and feel the past e...events that other monsters…lived through. In wartime…it was a w...way to pass…secret information without the humans fi...fnding out….After New Home was built…the King b...banned the use of Astral Heart…Y...you see…the side effects…can mess with monster's s...soul. Spending too much…time in other monster p...past… can change one's personality…Over time…Their own memory s...starts to fade...what they are left with is memories of a...another monster… It was also an e...evil way for some monster to keep living on even a...after the original body was gone. The only way t...to get rid of Astral Heart is to….have the user of the spell, to remove it…Sans, y...you need to find this monster…have them r...remove it…Until then…try…using your magic to fight off…and stay away from a...anything that may trigger a…flashback…Do you have a clue…w...who…the monster Might be?"

"No…I'm sure I will BUMP into them soon" Sans answered while his gaze was on the orange lump. If there was truth to Alphys' words, then there was only one monster those memories belong to, W.D Gaster. Which also meant that disfigured monster could be his father. Even if Sans did find a way back to the dark place, he wouldn't be able to speak with him. It seemed the only way to communicate, would be through sign language or the strange writing. Hopefully, the Snowdin Library had books on the subject, to borrow. "You're my doctor now, so AORTA keep it a secret, alright?" San chuckled while pulling his jacket hood up.

Alphys nods her head while releasing Sans' soul and let it float back into its owner's chest. This whole situation left an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Royal Scientists job was to help the Underground citizens and also act as a doctor if need be. She was bound to follow patient's confidentiality law as long as the monster in question was not self-harming themselves or the Royal Family didn't request information. Alphys couldn't breathe a word to anyone. As long as the short skeleton followed her warning, he should be alright for a while. Then again, he did have LHP. What if he was pulled into a traumatic vision and his soul couldn't handle it? Arial would be so heartbroken if she lost another member of her family. "A...are you sure…you don't…want t...to at least tell…Undyne?…She could p...put…out a search warrant…for a m...mystery monster." Alphys nervously asked, watching Sans leap off the metal table and land on his feet.

"Don't worry, I have thick skin." Sans laughed, heading to the doorway as a blue tear ran down the side of his face. There was no way he was going try to dodge Gaster's memories even if meant death. As long as "Reset" was in play, he would be able to come back to life in the next timeline. What terrified him was the risk of his existence disappearing and being replaced by his father's personality. There had to be a reason why Astral Heart placed on his soul….there had to be. Maybe it was the key to free everyone from the horrid resets?

Alphys sighed while nodding her head, deep down she wished she could do more for Sans. If she tried removing the spell, it would kill him in a heartbeat. Placing a claw in her lab coat, she pulled a tiny notebook and scribbles something in messy handwriting. "At least take some pain medicine for sore bones and headache, when you need It." handing him a prescription form.

"Thanks, Doc. You got that doctor handwriting, down." Sans said quickly taking the note and stuffing it into the jacket pocket. Soft almost quite muffled voice could be heard from her, but he didn't bother paying attention to a single word anymore. Alphys could plead all she wanted and try to get him to change his mind, but it wouldn't work. In a flash, the skeleton disappeared from the hall leaving the dino behind and then reappeared in front of the staircase Alphys used earlier. Carefully holding onto the handrail as he started walking up the steps. It would have been a lot quicker to take a shortcut up to the second floor, but kind of dangerous not knowing how Alphys may have redesigned the place after taking over after his father's disappearance. Knowing Sans' luck, he would crash into something breakable.

Sans almost jumped out of his skin as he heard loud cheering noises, filled the air. Near what appeared to be a tiny living room, Undyne was standing next to a coach making weird gestures with her arms. She extended her arms out in front, cupping an imaginary ball while retracting the arms back to one side. " Kamehaaaaa…."

Sans busted into laughter when he noticed she was trying to imitate what's going on the television screen. He couldn't help it; she looked so serious doing it. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to turn my magic into chi" she smirked pointing to the television displaying a battle between a spiky-haired human in an orange karate outfit fighting a purple-white monster.

"Sure...Where's Papyrus and Ariel?" San asked rolling his eyes before looking around trying to find the two missing teenagers.

"Arial freak out and went off running somewhere and Papyrus went after her," Undyne replied grabbing the TV remote and hit the pause button.

"Why didn't you go after them?" Sans asked taking a seat on the couch then leaning his head into the back cushions. It's still early in the day, but he was starting to get really tired. It felt like he hadn't slept in days.

"Papyrus told me to stay here…I didn't want to get in way of sibling bonding time. I felt bad though." Undyne answered taking a seat next to Sans. "Are you alright?"

"Just bone tired."

"Lazybones." Undyne rolled her eyes before turning down the volume and hitting the play button. Eyes glued to screen as excitement sent chills down the water monster's spine. Biting her lower lip trying not to make a peep, not to disturb the sleeping skeleton, next to her.


	14. Chapter 13

Sickly blurry green walls flashed by as two creatures ran down a long hallway in top speed. A hooded figure stopped in front of a door and placed a hand on a keypad and unlocking clicking noise could be heard. Quickly slipping into the blackness of a room before slamming noises echo down the halls, the door closed on the tall skeleton.

Papyrus stood there quietly wonder what he should do while looking at the keypad next to the door. A metal plate hung over the keypad with the name "Arial" carved into it. If he had to guess this was the door that leads to the girl's room. Leaning close to the door he could hear soft whimpers coming from the other side. Upsetting her was not part of the plan. He was just curious what a female skeleton looked like when Arial was sleep against his armor. All he did was pull down the hood to take a peek. Yelling, a human was probably not the best choice of actions, startled her awake. Next thing Papyrus knew he was chasing after her to this spot. Which must freak her out more? This was the worst first impression his newly discovered sister could gain from her newly found skeleton brother. What would Sans do in this situation? Make a few puns to lighten up the mood. If that didn't work, take a nap next to door until others came out to talk. This was the Great Papyrus, he could do so much better than that. "There's nothing to cry about…I can assure you…I, The Great Papyrus will not hurt you." He boosted placing a hand on his chest.

"Go away!" Arial screamed at the top of her lungs causing herself to start coughing.

"I can't…I promise no one will hurt you...Sis." Papyrus gently spoke, looking at the keypad, realizing it said unlocked.

"Who told you that?" Arial snapped in between tears.

"Alphys said Daddy made you, so that makes you family right?" Papyrus asked not sure if it were true or not anymore. Regardless if the girl was a sister or not, it wouldn't change the fact that he just wanted to help her.

"NO…I don't…deserve …both of you!" Arial's voice cracked between words.

"Why?" Papyrus was puzzled at her answer. How could she say that when they only met today in person. Seeing her almost fight Undyne to the death was not the best first impression of her character. He was still positive there was good in everyone, given the chance. They were family after all.

"I'm a freak… and…It's our fault…he, went" Arial cried while loud banging noises echoed through the door.

"No you're not…I'm not sure…what happened back then, but I know in my soul…you're a good person." Papyrus tries to speak in a soft reassuring voice, but it cracked a few times. A bony was handshaking in terror as it hovers over the keypad hesitating if the door should be open or not.

"We…" Arial's voice was cut off, falling forward while the door she leaned against slide out from under her body.

"Stop it…It's alright Big Brother Papyrus is here" the tall skeleton calmly said as he quickly caught Arial and pulled her close to the chest armor. Slowly standing up straight while cradling her. It was rude to enter a girl's bedroom uninvited, but he couldn't stand hearing her talk like that anymore. The orange soul felt like it was being tangled with emotions of sadness and bitterness that was not his own feeling. Where is this emotion coming from? Arial's soul? If it was, he needed to show her the past was not importation anymore. All that mattered was working on mending old wounds. So they could all look forward to a bright and happy future together as a family. Maybe something in the bedroom could help the girl's, worried heart.

An Orange light lit up in Papyrus' eye socket at the wonderment before him. The right side of the room had a white daybed with a bundle up pink "Mew Mew: Kissy Cutie" blanket lying on the floor surrounded by millions of tiny colorful stuffed animals. Anime posters covered the wall. Three bookshelves filled with manga books and a desk next to the table on the left side of the room "Wowie! So this is what a girl's bedroom looks like?"

"Papyrus, put me down" Arial cried looking up at the skeleton. A light shade of blush spread across her fleshy face as she felt him wipe away tears under her right eyelid. It was embarrassing to be carried around like a child, but there was a strange calming feeling to it. The purple soul in her chest felt understanding warmth in it. It's hard to explain, it was like she could feel Papyrus' emotions like it were her own. Telling her nothing to fear and everything would be alright.

"You're almost as tiny as Sans but lighter…" Papyrus chuckling, while heading towards the desk noticing sketches hanging on the wall above it. There were drawings of Grillby smoking behind the tavern, Sans sleeping at sentry station, Undyne hugging a blushing Alphys and other monsters in the Underground. Carefully placing Arial on her feet before leaning over the desk to take a closer look at the drawings. "Did you draw all this? Wait that's Metta … Happstablook and I." He gasped covering his mouth at the sight of a drawing of a tall skeleton kissing a pink ghost with an emo haircut.

"Yes…I'm Sorry…I didn't mean to spy…You both looked cute together." Arial spoke nervously while pulling the hood over her head.

"Really…." Papyrus shouted in excitement jumping up and down. Unlike Sans who was against his relationship with Mettaton, it was super cool to finally have a sibling that accepted it. Maybe if she also had a special monster in her life they could go on double dates. That thought went away noticing a drawing of a monster he didn't remember but strangely looked familiar. It was a portrait of a skeleton monster. The features in the skull where delicate and smooth giving off appearances of a female. Around her neck was a long scarf. "She's pretty, who she is?" Papyrus asked, eyes traveling down looking at the scarf around his own neck.

"Not sure…She's always singing to me in my dreams and giving me hugs." Arial smiled while fingers lightly touched the drawing. Closing her eye for a moment as a loving warm feeling washed over her body. This caused her to feel more relaxed and take down the hood "When I wake up I always feel happy and safe…It reminds me of the same feeling I get when I'm with Alphy."

"Do you think it was your birth mother? You kind of look like her," Papyrus asked using one of his gloves to cover the human side of Arial's face then look back at the drawing.

"I'm a test tube baby, Papyrus…Gaster grew me inside a large container until I was at least three… I don't remember, it seemed that I was sleeping the whole time… "Arial answered with sadness in her eyes before stopping to turn attention back to Papyrus who was messing around with objects on the desk.

"I thought Sans was the caption of sleep head." Papyrus giggled picking up markers and pencils to place into an empty cracked clay pot labeled, Flowey. Not sure if objects went there, but that table was so messy. It kind of reminded him how Sans kept his room. Sure, an artist is known to be messy, but this skeleton brother was not going to stand for this. Maybe on his next free day, he could take her shopping to buy a few things to organize her art supplies and show her how to keep the space clean. There was already one messy skeleton to clean up after and there was no need for two of them in the family. "Is this your sketchbook?" he asked, finding a book with a black hardcover under a pile of scrap papers.

"Don't open that!" Arial yelled out of the blue, reaching out take the book from Papyrus. The skeleton held up over his head giggling a bit, opening the book to a random page.

Papyrus heart beat fast at the image of nude humanoid cat boy straddling older cat boy. Quickly flipping to another page to Merman sucking on….. "Ummmmm…" it was all the skeleton brother could muster cover his mouth from view while eyes were glued to the pornographic images.

"I'm a fujoshi….Do you have to keep flipping through that?" Arial looked away in shame that her own brother was looking at her dirty boy on boy fantasy. The sound of turning the pages made her blush a deep shade of pink. "It's embarrassing, Papyrus!" she screamed jumping to smack the book closed and pulling it close to her chest.

"I think it's good." Papyrus patted her on the head while looking up at the ceiling. It felt a bit awkward finding out his younger sibling also had an interest in sex, especial that kind. It wasn't that he was innocent or anything about the subject on intercourse. Sure he had a few sexy magazines under his bed and stole some of Sans' DVDs from time to time, but this was his little sister. The youngest child should be a pure and innocent angel, not filthy mind like the rest of the family. "Wait is that how Sans feels about me?" he thought, looking down at the blushing girl before him. "How did you figure what can do what?"

"UnderNet…Please don't tell Alphy, she would have a heart attack if she knew…She still sees me as her little girl." She replies placing the book back on the table.

"I know how that feels…Sans still treats me if I were still a child too… Papyrus nods his head in agreement heading towards the bed and took a seat. "I'm almost an adult!" he huffed, crossing his arms looking up at nothing particular.

Arial's stomach made a light grumble while heading toward the bed. "I think I have some sweets somewhere," she said in a muffled voice while digging under her bed and pulling out a purple bakery boxing that was in the shape of a milk carton.

"That's not real food…Why don't I make us some spaghetti." Papyrus mention, watching Arial take a seat next to him.

"Unless it was frozen or canned it's not possible…Microwave food only." Arial remarked pulling the tabs down on the box in order to open it.

"How horrible…No wonder you're just skin and bones….you're not…." Papyrus' words were cut off as a soft object was popped into his mouth. To him, the sight of junk food and sweets never looked appealing. Most of it was empty calories and had no nutrition value. Eating junk causes the body to be sluggish and he need the energy in order to train to be a Royal Guard. The soft fried dough object in his mouth was surprisingly good. It had a light sweet texture with a hint of brown sugar and webbing decoration. "Wowie!"

"Good, right?!…It's a donut hole from the "Muffet bake shop"…Mom always stocked up on them when there was a half off sale going on…My favorite ones were filled with strawberry jam and with webbing glaze." She smiled before popping a round little ball into her mouth.

"That's the first time I heard you refer her as your mother..." Papyrus commented taking a mini donut. He did skip breakfasts so a few more balls of sweetness shouldn't hurt. "Could you call me brother?" he asked feeling a little bit jealous of Alphys, edging closer to her.

"I can't….Papyrus…Papyrus…" she shouted in giggles as Papyrus quickly grab her human foot and started tickling her. She looked up to see a glove hanging from his mouth while legs wrap around her waist keeping her from escaping. "Alright…Big Brother...Stop it." Arial gasped for air between fits of laughter.

Papyrus nodded his head in satisfaction while released his grip on Arial's foot. "Heeee…I win" hugging her tightly feeling the warmth coming from both their souls.

"As your prize, you're welcome to take any of my drawings."

"Are you sure?" Papyrus asked looking over at the sketches on the wall "I have an idea I will invite you and Mettaton over for dinner tomorrow. You can sketch us and you can try my spaghetti."

"Big brother…I'm not sure I'm ready for that," Arial spoke in a low tone of uncertainty about meeting a superstar like Mettaton. The robot was a childhood friend to Alphys, but how did Papyrus know him too? The robot star was known to broadcast gossip and juicy stories on his news show all the time. The thought of her family life being on display for all the Underground to see was terrifying.

"Did I forget to mention Happstablook and Mettaton are the same monster?… Don't worry Sis, my Shining Star is going to love you…There's nothing to be scared of…" Papyrus said noticing the fear in little sister's eyes. "Remember the Great Papyrus will protect you." giggling a bit, he pulled Arial into a big hug causing her to drop the donut box. Tightly holding on until her frown was turned into a slight smile.

"I'm sor…ry…I didn't mean to interrupt the bonding time." Alphys' voice came out of nowhere as she entered the room to find the youngest skeleton siblings hugging each on the bed. She hated to interfere but it's getting close to lunchtime. There was some important information that needed to be discussed with Undyne that sort of involved Arial to be present. It was a little bit too early to fully trust the skeleton brothers completely with information about her daughter. Papyrus seemed harmless, but Sans, on the other hand, reminded her of Gaster. "I'm fi...finished with giving Sans a checkup...He's alright just n...needs a little rest…and is sleeping in the living room r...right now."

"I should be taking Sans home…" Papyrus slowly released Arial, slipping his glove back on, and stood up. A bit of sadness washed over him as the connection he felt between their souls diminished the farther they were apart from each other. "Dinner will be ready tomorrow at 8 pm sharp…I will see you then, Ariel." He said not giving her the chance to argue, jogging out of the room, and kept going until he found Sans sleeping peacefully on the couch next to Undnye.

"Hey, there pal….How did it go?" Undyne asked tearing her eyes away from the television to look up at Papyrus.

"Splendid…Invited her to a family dinner tomorrow…Maybe we can have a sleepover too." Papyrus shouting in excitement at the thought of all his loved ones bonding together while eating magnificent spaghetti dinner.

"That's great Paps…That means Alphy will be alone tomorrow night." Undyne smirked to herself while her blue cheeks blush a deep blue. If Arial was going to sleep over at the skeleton brother's house then Alphys would be home alone. This would give the water monster the perfect chance to come over for pizza and flirt with her crush. If she was lucky, the right kind of mushy romantic anime could lead to a making out session and maybe…. The blue scales on her cheeks turned an even darker shade as Undyne's mind started to be filled with sexy images of a yellow dino that unsafe for any children to comprehend.

"Are you alright, Undyne? …Your face is turning a dark shade." Papyrus asked, wondering if he should go get Alphys or maybe she was upset about something.

"It's just a little warm here for my taste, Hotland and all." Undyne lied, watching Papyrus bend down and carefully pulling Sans into his arms. "Anyway, you should get lazy shack home…Oh, Papyrus next time you try to stop one of my battles...I'm going kick your ass" Undyne said jokingly with a smirk on her face.

"It would be an honor to battle you….Nee…hhheeee!" Papyrus called out in glee while heading down the steps, looking down once in while making sure he didn't wake the sleeping skeleton. His orange soul beamed with excitement about what tomorrow was going to bring. Most of the day would be spent working at the sentry station and recalibrate puzzles. Once the job was done he would need to rush home to clean everything and make dinner. Now if only he could get the Underground's most lazy monster, to pick up his stinky sock in the living room. It would be very helpful and one less thing to do on the list. There so much to do and so little time.


	15. Chapter 14

The calm darkness of sleep was interrupted by a heavenly chiming noise filling the air. Bones rattle as his body shifted in sleep, trying to ignore the ringing that wouldn't stop buzzing. With a tiny groan, a hand reached into a coat pocket and pulled out a tiny object that was vibrating. Sight was a bit blurry as the buzzing object flashed, the tiny light slowly come into view as a bony hand was holding what appeared to be a flip phone.

Sans was confused with his surrounding noticing in front of him, the walls and flooring were not like his bedroom purple-blue carpet with brown walls. Maybe it was a patient's room in the Royal Laboratory but weren't the walls green with blue tiles? It was all white and the phone was vintage. His attention went back to the phone as bony finger flipped the phone open as the name "Bel" appeared on the digital display screen. Wherever Sans was it appeared to be another memory that belonged to his father.

"How did it go, Bel?" Gaster spoke into the phone with a weak tired voice as his body slowly sat up. The hand shook a bit holding the phone against his head. Looking beside him was a tiny lumpy object under a blue comforter. "I just woke up…I'm sure everything will be alright. WAIT, you say Queen Toriel is coming too…Then there's nothing to fear, dear." Gaster yawned while lightly shaking the lump.

The tiny thing slightly moved as it curled itself into a ball. Gaster snickered to himself before ripping the blanket off and tossing it somewhere far from the bed. It didn't surprise Sans to discover the lump had been a very drowsy little girl wearing a black nightdress. Guessing by the size of the body and two human arms wrapped around its head trying to block out the brightness of the room. It was the sick little human child that Sans' parents called, Alice. "Come on sweetie, it's time to wake up," Gaster said pulling the sleepy head onto his lap and placed his teeth upon her forehead while making a kissing sound.

Alice unwraps her arms around head as a silent yawn escaped her lips before twisting into smiling. He brushed some hair out of her face, revealing a reflected image of a tired pale Gaster, in her blue eyes. On the right side of her face, the pigment of flesh was completely black as ash. A sign that the virus had spread more from the last vision Sans experience. A cold chill shocked the skeleton's soul as the little girl hunched over covering her mouth from view while blood gushed out between tiny human fingers. Heart pounding fast in the chest, causing silent tears to start streaming down the child's cheek.

"It's…alright child." Trying to ensure Alice, pulling her into a hug while green magic surrounds the tiny human's body. On the outside, it sounds like he had everything under control, but Sans could sense that his father was freaking out. Healing magic was only a temporary fix and was able to repair some damaged cell, but couldn't restore parts of the body that was completely destroyed. Most monsters would have given up by now letting the child die. Gaster couldn't do that when the child was fighting so hard to stay alive. No matter how much pain her body was in, Alice did her best to hide the suffering by smiling. Hanging on to that tiny hope until Gaster finds a cure so she could leave the laboratory forever and live happily ever after with her adopted skeleton family.

"Alice do you want to cancel the visit?" Gaster spoke in a weak, tired voice, carefully pulling his tiny bony hands away from the child's face. Her breathing was returning to a normal pace, but there was no telling if another attack would happen later. If the King were to see this, there would be no way in hell the Royal Family would approve of letting the Skeleton Family adopted her. Wouldn't matter if the virus only affected humans and not monsters. The girl would be seen as a threat to Chara's life, They were the Underground light of hope. Alice and Chara where both human children, but unlike Alice, Chara was part of the Royal Family and loved by many monsters. Gaster was not like most monsters in the Underground, his loyalty was with his family which includes his human daughter regardless if it was official or not.

Blood trickled down the sides of Alice's lip as a soft smile spread across her face. The right hands still covered in blood as she signed number two with her fingers before bringing them to her thumb. Gaster sighs while cuddling the girl in his arms and scooping her up before heading to another part of the laboratory. He was hoping she would say "yes" to cancel the meeting with the King, but they know they couldn't delay it anymore. It had been three months now since she came to live in the Royal Laboratory. There were many times Bel asked to take her to their house in Snowdin. Every time he had to explain that all medical equipment couldn't leave the laboratory and cold weather could be dangerous to a child's weakened state. Staying in the laboratory is a bit dangerous too, with monsters coming and going looking for medical treatment from Dr. Gaster. There were rumors floating in the Underground that Royal Science was harboring a human child. Which was true, but the King had stated that all humans where to be taken to him. Those humans never were seen or heard of again, but for Chara. Maybe the King would overlook this, seeing that the Skeleton Family had serviced the Royal Family for centuries.

Gaster didn't say another word while carrying the girl down a long hallway and entering a tiny bathroom. He placed the child down on the ground before resting his bony hands on each side of a porcelain pedestal sink. A mirror hanging over the skin reflecting dim light, tiredness glowed in the skeleton's eye sockets. The white lab coat was covered in spots of red blood, some new, and some old.

A worried expression crossed Alice's face as she extends and spread out five fingers on her right hand while tapping thumb few times on the forehead. "Daddy…Are you alright?" the tiny hand gestured to the tall skeleton. Sans laughed releasing that he was able to comprehend sign language now. It was like knowledge of the movement of hands combined with facial expressions and postures of the body sinking into his soul.

"I'm alright dear." Gaster pat Alice on the head before slipping off the lab coat and rest of the clothing.

"We need to clean up before guests come." Leaning over to help the little girl pull her black nightdress off before opening a glass door and entering into the enclosed shower, large enough for the both of them to bathe. It was rare for a skeleton to need a bath seeing that they didn't have sweat glands, but once in a while, the bones did need a scrubbing from grime sticking. All that was needed, was a bar of soap to stay clean, but human, on the other hand, need more. Grabbing the shower hose and bottle of shampoo before sitting cross leg and waving for Alice to take a seat on his lap. After many trials and errors, he learned the correct way in giving a human child, a bath. He was sure Alice had to be at least four and could wash her own self. Children had a talent turning everything into a game even a simple task like washing their hair could lead to hours of making funny bubble beards on the face or use soap to make spiky hair. Learning that experience from Bel, when she give Sans and Alice a bath in a kiddy pool together. He used his hands to protect the human girl's eyes while the water ran down her silky black hair before the shampoo could be lathered in.

Alice quickly pulled away turning her body to face Gaster. A smile spread across her face while taking some foam bubbles off top her head and placed on top of his skull. Soft human hands glide and rub gently against the skull. Relaxing the skeleton a bit as a tingling sensation spread across the skull and down into orange-blue heart temporarily removing all negative emotions in the soul. It was a simple gesture, but warmed his heart and Sans'.

Everything going on was just a scene of the past playing out in front of him, but it felt so real to Sans. The sound of running water as soap dripped down the bones, the touch of the faucet while turning the water off, and soft towel while Gaster dried Alice's hair. He could even feel all emotion and thoughts going on inside his father's body. That moment Gaster was petrified at the sound of his own soulmate calling out his name while frantically tried to pull his limbs through a black sweater.

"There you are…Did something happen?" Bel's voice drifted into the room while the sounds of combat boots tap against the smooth tile flooring. Slim bony fingers slide across the male skeleton's waist, quickly pulling Gaster into a hug.

"Just coughing, nothing to worry about…Where are their Majesties?" Gaster asked in a monotone voice, but inside the orange-blue heart thumping against the rib cage. All emotions Sans was expiring of his father's surprised him. Their father had always appeared as strong, courageous, hardworking monsters that never show any sign of fear. Here he was rattling with fear and speaking with dull and tedious attitude.

"Waiting in the lobby," Bel replied in a muffled voice burying her face in the back of her mate's lab coat. The sound of bone-rattling banged against armored chest plate, the grasp around Gaster's waist became tighter.

"It will be alright Bel…Your Queen Toriel trusted personal bodyguards…We know how much she adores children." Gaster sighed slowly undoing the fingers locking him in a shaky hug. It was heartbreaking to see the female skeleton was breaking under presser. All he could do was kiss her lightly on the forehead and try to ensure her that everything will be alright.

"King one that..." Bel's discourage words where cut off as Gaster cupped her chin and brought her into another skeleton kiss. Bony mouth light grazing each other before an ecto orange tongue was summoned, entering the female's mouth. Didn't take long for a purple tongue to return the favor as more kiss started to turn into a heated passion.

Sans felt sick to the core at the sight and feeling of the sexual kisses expressed through his parent's mouth. It was sweet to watch the comforting hug and light kisses, but this was just too much for him now. It was natural for monsters to have sexual desire especially soulmates. This was a nightmare, feeling and hearing every nasty thought his father was thinking made Sans want to throw up. "Please for the love of god, stop!" Sans groaned, wishing for the power to skip this part of the vision.

Luck for him, the french kissing came to an end as something repeatedly tugged at the bottom of his lab coat. Gaster looked down beside him to find a grossed out Alice sticking out her tongue. Gaster lightly pats the child on the head before looking back up to the red scarf covering Bel's face out of embarrassment and shame. "There's nothing to be scared or shy about…I was once told by a certain female skeleton, behind every great man is a great woman…True soulmates work together as one." Gaster remarked, hoping the kisses would help relax her a bit and wash some of those fears away.

"It will be alright, Mommy" Alice gestured with her hands while looking at the both of her monster parents. The child smiled sweetly at Bel taking hold of her hands as their footsteps slowly followed behind Gaster.

The lobby was very quiet except the soft whisper of a female goat monster wearing a purple dress speaking with a taller goat, whose body was covered completely by a purple cape. Gaster took a deep breath before making a coughing sound into his hand to alert his presence.

"Howdy, Dr. Gaster…My good friend…It has been awhile, how is your research going on the barrier?" The taller goat spoke in a welcoming male voice.

"I may have found a few solutions, but it's not the reason I asked you here today, King Asgore" Gaster nod his head before bowing to the rulers of the Underground. "I'm sure you read my report about a human dying in lava about three months ago."

"Yes, I did…Did you ever find the reason why?" Asgore asked raising an eyebrow.

"It was due to the outbreak of Reaper Kiss. Don't worry your Majesties it only affects humans…" Gaster said, hoping that last part was not a mistake to mention.

"How did you come to this information?" Asgore asked in puzzlement, slowly stroking his blonde beard. The warmth in his eyes, disappeared as it narrowed coldly, looking pass Gaster.

"I was able to save one" Gaster answered looking over his shoulder seeing Bel joining them in the lobby while holding Alice's hand. Once the female was beside him, the little girl took hold the side of her black skirt while bending her knees and bowing her head. Smiling sweetly while lifting herself up. "It's nice to meet you, your Majesties ….My name is Alice," Gaster said interpreting the hand gestures the little girl was making.

"WAIT!... Could Chara get this disease?" the female goat cried out covering her mouth from the shock of seeing a human child covered in spots and black sores.

"It's alright Queen Toriel…Bel and I have been using magic to keep the virus at bay… Right now in a petri dish, I'm testing how skeleton monster's blood reacts to the blood infected by the Reaper Kiss…If the test is positive then I should be able to cure her in a week's time." Gaster spoke in a powerful voice placing a hand on Alice's shoulder.

"You poor child…I should have realized sooner, Bel…I just thought you were tired from sleepless nights, taking care of the baby…Where is Sans?" Toriel gasped taking a few steps forward and reached out to hug the two females before her. A large paw grasped her shoulder while Asgore shook his head for his wife not to move another inch.

"Don't worry Queen Toriel, Urd and Axel is looking after him for me," Bel answered messing with the scarf around her neck. The air in the room was becoming dry and unsettling.

"Does that mean the Captain and Lieutenant of the royal guards known about this child?" Asgore spoke with a bit of bitterness trying to keep a friendly smile visible on his fuzzy face.

"No, your Majesty….I told them I need a bit of alone time with Gaster." Bel answered making tiny little fist using all her power not to break down. Gaster quickly took hold of his soulmate's hand and squeezing a few times, letting her known she was not alone. Many monsters in the Underground believed Asgore to be a kind king, but during Wartime, those large white paws had been stained red, countless of times.

Gaster's heart raced as an image of a shadowy horned monster covered in a cloud of gray dust roared in anger as red lights beamed from its eyes. Massive feet stood on top of a mountain of human corpses. The male skeleton shakes his head trying to forget the horror of this dark childhood memory. That was all millennium ago, King Asgore was nothing but a softy that loved his family and citizen now. His train of thought disappeared as he felt something tug on the sleeve of his lab coat. Looking down to see Alice was moving her hands. "You don't look like a scary demon like in my old picture book. You're fluffy." Gaster said a bit surprised that the child was aware of the monster and human war.

"Why are you speaking for the child, Gaster? What is she doing with her hand?" Asgore asked in a nervous voice. Probably thinking that girl was a witch trying to cast a spell on him.

"It's called sign language, your Majesty...The virus and ashes from the volcano damage the child's voice box. I was able to heal the throat so she could comfortably drink and eat…Would you rather she writes on a notepad?" Gaster asked digging into his lab coat and pulling out a tiny notepad.

"She's so young. Can she spell?" Toriel asked before lightly biting her lip. Gaster could see in her eyes that she wanted desperately to hug the human child and comfort her.

"Yes, she's able to read and write in cursive at a second-grade level…My guess is her parents started her education as soon as she was born…It only took a week to teach her how to sign" Gaster boosted in pride at how clever Alice is to have picked up on things easily.

"You sound like a proud parent." Toriel laughed in her hands.

"Ummmm…W...would your M...majesty like some t..tea" Bel nervously asked scooping up Alice into her arms.

"That would be lovely." Asgore agreed taking hold of his wife's hands following behind Bel. Not too far where they had stood minutes go, a roundtable was set for four. Sitting on the table, was an electric teapot, a box of cookies, and four tea cups each containing a tea bag. The skeleton felt a bit embarrassed severing the Royal family low standard common tea, but neither of them really cared for tea or sweets "Now then Bel, what were you really going to say earlier?" the King asked pulling a chair out for Toriel before taking a seat next to her.

"My mate and I would like to become the child's new guardians." Gaster blurted out not letting Bel have a chance to answer the question. Pushing a button on the electrical teapot, turning it on.

"You want to adopt a human child…Don't you already have your handful, with work and a new baby?" Toriel said fiddling with her thumbs.

"Thank you for your concern, your Majesty, like yourself I'm sure I can handle two children," Bel remarked reaching a hand to grab the box of cookies. "The children adore each other…Just yesterday Alice was telling the funniest joke about…" Bel stop speaking, giggles bust out of her while watching Alice stuff her mouth full of cookies.

"Oh…What a sweet tooth you have" Toriel smiled before shaking her head when Bel offered her cookie.

"Gaster…Are you sure you're going to be able to cure the child where humans have failed?" Asgore asked glaring down into his empty teacup. Claws nervously tapping on the table while his mouth slightly opened to speak, but quickly shut.

"I'm sure I can, but I need a little more time," Gaster said walking around the table while pouring boiling water into each of the teacups.

"Gaster, I'm worried all of this is putting a strain on your family's health...I may be a goat monster, but I know a few things about skeleton monster…One of those is that baby skeletons need to consume magic from either of their parents like mother 's milk…With your Sans having low…" Asgore sighed.

"Have you forgot your Majesty, but skeleton monsters are a very powerful race when it comes to magic…Because of that fact during wartime, some of your best soldiers and medics were skeletons. " Gaster remarked taking a seat next to his soulmate. The king had a point, but this was his family. His mind already decided on raising the human girl as his own child.

Asgore slowly rising tea to his lips while looking at Gaster then eyes traveled over o Bel holding the child. Slightly shaking his head before placing the full cup back on the table. "Yes…but…" Asgore paused looking over at his wife for some support in his argument.

"Bel, Gaster, dears…. It doesn't stop us from worrying about your health…We made a promise… to your family…to keep both of you safe." Toriel calmly tries to explain, but her voice cracked a few times. Her eyes lowered in shame staring at the steam rising from the teacup.

"I'm grateful for that, Queen Toriel…If it was not for the kindness and loving care you displayed to the young monster who had lost their family during the war, many of us would have praised…I'm not that little shy Korean girl anymore…I'm the proud member of the Royal Guards and mother of two… if you permit us of course." Bel spoke in a timid voice before taking a sip of her tea then carefully blowing on it before placing it up to Alice's lips. The little girl took a few sips before pushing it away quickly as her tiny hands covered her mouth, from sight. Chilling cracking noises filled the air as the teacup smashed against the floor while Alice started coughing. Bel quickly grabbed her handkerchief as she noticed blood had started to drip through the child's fingers. She placed it over Alice's mouth and her other hand, illuminated in a green healing light as it was placed on the girl's chest.

"I think my wife and I will need some time to discuss this matter…In the meantime keep the human… inside the laboratory." Asgore demanded, placing his hands on the table and standing up quickly causing the table to shake. He had eyes of sadness and bitterness glaring down at the human child as a trail of blood dripped from her lip. "Thank you for the tea," King said half smiling towards Gaster before darting his eyes to the floor. Chewing on the bottom of lips wanting to say something else, but holding his tongue.

"Yes…Thank you." Toriel said standing and bow to the skeletons. Moisture could be seen forming under her eyes lids as she quickly turns her back on them.

"I will escort…," Bel called out, quickly placing Alice on the ground before jumping to her feet. Asgore shook his head, holding out a hand, begging her to stay where she was.

"That is alright Bel… Toriel and I will be fine…Again thank you for the tea." Asgore spoke in a hushed voice as he bowed to the skeleton couple before taking his wife's hand and leading her out of the Royal Laboratory.

Gaster's body felt frozen to his chair watching the Royal Family disappeared from sight and hearing the slamming of laboratory doors. Orange-blue soul scream for him go after them and try to ensure them that Alice was no threat. It was useless; he already told them everything that needed to be said. The only hope now was to finish the cure. He would have to proceed and injected the human child with skeleton blood. The blood samples were not done being tested, but there was no time to waste. It could kil… It was the only choice that was left to try and save their daughter.


	16. Chapter 15

Bright white flashed as the image became a peach and black color. Slowly, an arm covered in black wounds came into view. A skeleton hand carefully picked it up and wiped a tiny part of the skin with a cotton ball. The smell of alcohol filled the air. Another bony hand gently pinched the skin as the one with the cotton ball, disappeared out of sight for a moment before coming back into view holding a syringe filled with crimson red liquid. Holding the syringe barrel tightly, the tip of the needle pierced the skin causing the body to flinch.

"Bel…Hold her still" Gaster calmly called, pressing the needle deeper in the arm. The orange-blue soul felt like it was being ripped apart to see the painful tears streaming down Alice's face. The monster blood wasn't injected yet, but this was the second dose of the day and the child hated the sight of needles. He tried explaining to her that this was to help her attempt to fight the illness inside of her. It didn't help to comfort the girl's fear of pain as the sharp object was poking into the skin. Gaster sighed, pushing down on the plunger as the red liquid slowly emptied out of the barrel.

"It's alright sweetie, no more shots for today," Bel spoke as a thin skeleton hand wiped tears from Alice's eyes. A purple ring glowed around Alice's blue iris as a weak smile spread across the child's face. "Honey, her eyes are glowing again."

"I extracted a sample this morning. It appears that our blood being absorbed by her cells has given the body a chance to fight the virus. She still needs a few more doses of blood to make sure the Reaper Kiss was completely eradicated. Glowing is just a side effect, it should stop in few minutes." Gaster explained, not sure about the last part. There were no records of a human and monster ever joining any form of genetic makeup. The orange-blue soul shook with anxiety at the sight of the human child's glowing eyes. All of this was unknown territory. Checking her soul may give him more answers to what was going on, but the child's body was still weak. Attracting Alice's tiny soul could cause a heart stroke. "See, it's gone now."

Bel sighed in relief before placing a kiss on Alice's forehead causing the little one's eyes to squint and mouth open with a wide smile, as she silently giggled. A soft cry filled the air as Gaster watched the little human wiggled across the bed before placing her feet on the tile flooring. She quickly ran to the tiny wooden cradle before leaning over and gently lifting up baby Sans, bring him close to her chest while tightly wrapping her arms around him. Alice's blue iris turned completely purple while the baby cooed as she walked slowly towards the adult skeletons.

"Thank you, dear," Bel said leaning down, scooped up the children into her arms, and placed both of them into the bed. "Gaster…Do you think she has magic?" the female skeleton asked worriedly while brushing Alice's black hair back, noticing that her eyes were not it's usual color.

"Some humans did have magical abilities, then again it could be the blood…She's not the only one glowing." Gaster pointed out the blue lights glowing from the giggling baby's left eye socket. Little Sans' tiny hands clung tightly onto Alice's night dress. It was endearing to watch the soothing aura engulf the children's bodies. Eye glowing was known to release a magical aura letting nearby monsters feel the skeleton's emotion. Alice was a human, could it be possible that the skeleton blood was giving the child magical ability? It was known, when humans or monsters killed another, they gain power in strength. Could a human gain monster magic too? The only time in history it was recorded, a human using magic were magicians during the war. Gaster's bones started to tremble as a dark memory floated in the back of his mind as he recalled what he had witnessed as a child. A human dress in a long red robe placed a foot on a tiny skeleton's spine. A staff was repeatedly smashing into their bony hands sending a wave of blood-curdling screams that filled the air. Yellow tears pour out of their eyes as the tiny handless skeleton was tossed in a sack. Without warning a staff smashed into young Gaster, causing him to fall to the ground. They forcefully shoved the end of the staff into his right eye socket as it pinned him to the ground. As it was crushed in his skull, they began to twist and turn it, causing unbearable pain as his piercing cries echoed. He tries to struggle but couldn't fight back as the orange-blue soul was under a capturing spell. A wicked human cupped his bony chin while an evil grin spread across their face. Leaning in, white hairs blocked his vision as the evil man licked Gaster's skull. His bones rattled at the memory of the human's face pulling away licking the crimson red liquid from his lips.

The dark memories fade as his soulmate's arms slide across his waist from behind. Pulling the male skeleton into a loving embrace. Bel laid her skull on his shoulder bone while lightly nuzzling the side of his skull. Purple sparks glowed in both of Bel's eye sockets attempting to send calming auras to Gaster. "It's alright, dear… Do you want to talk about it?" She asked concerned for her soulmate.

"Don't worry I'll be fine….It was just a passing memory." Gaster answered with a sigh placing a hand on the right side of his skull, tracing down the crack that leads down to his eye socket.

Sans didn't realize how much he didn't know about his parents. Monsters had a long lifespan, but he never imagined that his father had been a child during the human and monster war. All he knew was what school taught, Humans and Monster ruled the earth together until one day a war broke out.

In the end, humans were victorious and sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell. After seeing two horrible memories of his father's childhood, it explains why many monsters wished to forget the past. So what was the point of returning to the surface? Was it about freedom or revenge? Once upon a time, Sans wanted to go to the surface with Papyrus to see real stars in the night sky and explore everything it had to offer, with his loved ones. Those dreams were gone, thanks to the Resets. Those dreams were worthless now, just like the wishful thinking of his father wanting to save the human girl.

Bel unwrapped one of her arms from around Gaster as something vibrated, breaking the uneasy silence between them. "Queen Toriel! She wants to see me right now," She said holding the phone out in front of Gaster so he could see the text message.

"It's late," Gaster sighed noticing the time was after eight pm.

"I know, but it could be important…Could be about adopting Alice," Bel remarked hopefully pulling away from Gaster.

"Don't go, mama" Alice signed with a sadden expression while extend and spread the fingers apart tap the thumb on her chin.

"I'm sorry dear, but I've been summoned to the capital …I promise when both of you wake in the morning, I will make some pancakes" Bel said.

"Strawberries" Alice smiled, point the index of the left hand and move all the fingers of right hand around the tip of the index.

"With ketchup," Gaster adds playfully remembering the little girl hates the taste of the red condiment.

"We'll see...Sleep tight." Bel giggled into her hands before leaning over giving each of her children a loving skeleton kiss on the forehead.

"Don't worry, dear….I can handle looking after the children…I love you, Bel" Gaster said sweetly before placing a quick kiss on his soulmate mouth.

Glowing purple hearts beamed from Bel's orbs as they slowly broke away from the kiss. " Saranghaeyo, Gaster," Bel said sweetly before turning her back on him and slipping out the room.

Gaster stood there quietly listening to the sound of her boots walking down the hallways until it became too quiet to hear. Looking back down at the bed, two sets of tired eyes were beaming up at him. It was amazing how stubborn children were to stay awake when their body wanted to go to sleep. They were probably thinking if they closed their eyes they would miss out on something importation. "What story should I read tonight?" he asked hoping a bedtime story would help the restless children.

Alice pointed to herself as Gaster nodded his head in response to her answer. The Skeleton walked over to the table that was covered with books and research notes. A bony finger trailed up a stack of books until tip phalange rest on the spine of a book labeled 'Alice in Wonderland'. Without wasting any more time, he grabs the book and takes a seat on a stool next to the bed. Opening the book, he started to read "Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her …." The skeleton spoke in a calm voice looking up every once in while catching the children yawning.

After what felt like hours Gaster closed the book and slowly stood up, careful not to wake the sleeping children. Tiptoeing across the floor, placed the book back on the table before making his way out the room into the dim lit hallway. Bones rattling, he used the wall to steady himself. His body was almost completely drained of all magic after countless days of healing and sleepless nights taking care of his daughter. After giving the first injection this morning, Alice had not coughed up any blood or show any sign of pain. Gaster still couldn't allow himself any sleep. Gaster's soul felt uneasy and restless. Bel was still not back and there had been no texts from her either. It didn't feel right sleeping until he knew his family was completely safe. He pulled his flip phone out of his lab coat. The glow of the phone beamed on his face while writing a text. Sounds of heavy footsteps approaching pulled him away from the phone. "Hello…Bel?" calling out into the partly dark hallway as the shadowy figure came towards him.

Uncomfortable chilling dark energy cast over the halls as a tall thin figure dressed in a black hood stopped in front of the skeleton. Bringing their feet together, they placed a hand crossed their chest. "Tra la la…Good evening Doctor W.D Gaster….How are you doing this lovely night?" A gravelly male voice asked while leaning over into a respectful bow.

"'I'm sorry, but it's after hours…Please leave." Gaster demanded, placing both his hands into his lab coat pocket.

"We will leave…..Once…we…have what…we came for….human…." demanding voice was croaky as a short chubby hooded figure appeared next to the tall one. White ball s of light glowing within the hood as lump glove extending out in front its' body.

"I will have to refuse your request." Gaster snapped while one eye socket glowed orange and another blue. Giving off a threating aura, hoping it would be enough to make the hooded creatures leave the laboratory. His tired bones rattled at expenses of using a tiny bit of magic.

"You seem a little frightened, Doctor…Could it be you're low on magic?" shorter one was croaky with a hint of snickering. Holding up a gloved hand illuminated in orange light. In a quick motion, the arm swung down while a fiery whip cracked the tile floor causing it to crack under the skeleton's feet.

"Stay back!" Gaster yelled taking a few steps watching in horror as more glowing balls appeared behind the two hooded creatures. Each one probably belonging to a monster. This was not good. He had to find a way to get the children to safety. Without another thought, tiny bones appeared out of thin air as it flew towards the intruders. Blue light surrounds the skeleton as his body warped him out of the hallway then appearing next to a bed with sleeping little ones. Breathing heavy while using the edge of the bed to help support himself up. His shaking hand releases grip and quickly pulling the blanket off the children. Far in the distance, he could hear mumbles of many voices down the hall.

"What are you doing, find the human!"

Alice shivered from the coldness of the room causing her to open her eyes. Slowly sitting up with Baby Sans laying against her chest. Gaster placed a hand on the little girl's scared blacken face. Teleporting with two passengers would drain the remainder of his magic and effect could be too much presser on a baby monster's soul. Removing his lab coat, he wrapped it around the children before grabbing the stool and walking over to the window. Mustering all the strength he could gather from his shaking body as he slammed the feet of the stool, through the window. All it took was a few hits for the glass to shatter. Tossing the stool aside, Gaster dashed over to the bed making sure the children were completely covered before tightly holding them close to his chest and returning to the window. Sharp glass shards scraped against his shoulder blade as Gaster leaned out the window to place the bundle on the hot rock ground covered in broken glass. "Stay still" He demands seeing something wiggled in the lab coat before hoisting himself through the window.

The sound of crunching could be heard while glass crushed under the weight of boots as Gaster scooped the children carefully in his arms. Glowing orange-red light danced across the skeleton's skull as he looked at the flames of Hotland. Even at night, the heated fiery area was still lit like a lava lamp leaving no places to hide. From inside the laboratory, he could hear a voice scream as something brushed against his sleeve before gripping onto the back of the sweater. Distress emotion of panic and fear spread across his body as he was being pulled backward. Without looking back, Gaster cuddled the bundle in one arm as a bone appeared in his right hand. In a quick motion, He stab his captor that grasped onto his sweater. They released him in a cry of pain. The babies' muffled crying could be heard from inside the lab coat as Gaster's knees came crashing on the broken glass. Gaster clinched his jaw shut tightly as a wave of pain shoot up the spine. Leaning on his shaky hand for body support, he stumbled regaining balance, and out of breath. Alice peaked out from under the white cloth, placing a hand on the side of his skull face. "I'm alright" Gaster lied wrapping both arms tightly around the children before running as fast as his feet could carry them.

The air became cool as the stone ground quickly turned into the smooth slippery surface. Orange glow of lava disappeared as the only source of light was a giant, red, and neon sign embedded into a cavern wall. Gaster leans his back against the sign while looking down at the two tiny scared faces looking up at him. Orange-blue soul wished he could spare some calming magic on the children's frightened souls, but he couldn't afford it. There was no telling how far the enemy was or what kind of magic weapons they could summon. The brave skeleton had to be prepared for anything and reserve what little magic he had left. "Alice, I need you keep Sans calm….I know you're scared too, but it's very important that he stay quiet." quivering slightly noticing blue tears forming in little skeleton's eye socket.

Nodding her head slightly, Alice's blue iris turned into a purple glow, but it didn't help as the high pitch cry bounced off the cavern tunnels. Gaster should have known this would happen. It was too much to ask someone so young in this situation to control their own fear as they try to comfort another. Alice's iris turned back to blue as tears started welling up in the little girl's eyes. "It's alright, Alice you tried. Shuuuu…It's alright, Sans" he spoke in a soft voice while bouncing his arms up and down starting to walk as fast he could across that damp ground. Wet grass brushed against his pant legs as glowing aqua flower's dim light lit the path before him. A flower shook a bit as his foot accidentally taped it causing an unknown voice to echo.

"Where am I...? It's so cold here... And so dark... Someone help me... Anyone... please... Help me..."

The wind became dead silent as a bright yellow beam flashed in front of them. A fuzzy black form grew inside the light until it took on the shape of a tall figure. The lights burst into thin air leaving behind the slender hooded man from the laboratory. Teleportation was a rare magic ability and hard to control for some monsters. Whoever this creature was, must belong to a powerful monster race. "Dr. Gaster." the gravelly male voice spoke taking a few steps forward as he cocked his head to the side. "We don't want to harm you or the baby…All we want is the human child...Tra la la…"

"I will not let you harm either of them." Gaster snapped as his eyes flared in orange and blue, stumbling a few steps back. Leaning down, he placed the children on the ground before standing up straight. A blue light glows in his left hand while taking on the shape of a long bone with a ridged sharp end. The anger and fear burned through his soul as the skeleton leaned down while extending his right hand. Trying to talk to this monster was useless now. The only option was to fight. Mud splashed against the back of his boots as they pushed deep into the ground before aggressively leaping towards the enemy. The tip of the bone spear slashed into an after image of the hooded figure. Loud booming echo noises bounced off the cavern but was quickly replaced with cries of agonizing pain as tiny sharp metal burst out of Gaster's left shoulder bones. Falling to his knees, he tried desperately not to lose control of the spear. His soul trembles at the sound of a clicking noise while something cold and metal pushed on his skull. In the corner, the left blue eye could see a gun covered in yellow light.

"Please, Dr. Gaster. Let's not make this any more difficult than it already is…My friends only want the human... Tra la la…" the hooded man's gravelly voice had a tone headed toward a darkened path. Horror washed over Gaster at the sound of feet treading heavily in the mud and puddles, coming from within the darkness. Bloodlust filled the air as the light of the echo flowers danced upon a large group of hooded monsters, each carrying glowing magical weapons. Gaster groaned , releasing the grip on his weapon and letting it disappear into a cloud of blue smoke. "Tra la la…That's a good man" the hooded man spoke in a pleased gravelly voice, backing up a few feet letting the skeleton wobbly raise to his feet with the gun still aimed at him.

Gaster looked at the man then back over his shoulder. There in the center of the mess, he could see Alice leaning over with her hand covered in the dirt while picking up things from the ground. Her mouth opening wide as it could go, extending her arms back before throwing rocks forward in the direction of the monsters. Next to her feet was Baby Sans crying at the top of his lungs tugging on ends of the girl's black nightgown. The girl's hands trembled with each rock tossed at the monsters who were laughing at her pitiful attempt to harm them. Most humans would have run when outnumbered, but she wasn't letting it discourage her. Only for a second but Gaster swore the little girl almost resembled Bel as a child standing tall facing an enemy larger than her even when the cards were stacked against her. Tiny eyes glaring a purple light persist to keep her baby brother safe. Losing one's hope was not an option for them when there are still loved ones to protect. Gaster swallowed the pain throbbing in his left shoulder while rising his right-hand lit up in orange. In a flash, bones rained down onto the unexpected enemies. Lovely wet grass area turned into mud, aqua flowers were smashed into bits. Clouds of gray dust filled the air as Gaster raced towards the dim purple glow that he could make out through the gray fog. His head darted around, looking out for a surprise attack. The children were only inches away from his bony finger as something wrapped around the skeleton's leg pulling the air out from under him.

The dust cloud died down as Gaster's eyes darted behind to see a faceless black humanoid shape face, blue-white sparks surging from its head like hair, and wearing the enemies' black robes. Grasped in one of its' hands was a metal handle with a long metal chain which was wrapped around Gagster's leg "Traitor" a female voice snarled conducting a surge of electricity down the chain link. Causing the skeleton to scream in agony and cling his fingers deep into the mud.

Sans gasped feeling the voltage light scratch the surface of his father's orange-blue soul. The images started to become blurry as another surge of light hit his heart.

"Tra la la…Don't dust him…Underground still needs him for his research...Tra la la" a gravelly male coughed.

Sans could feel something placed on his skull as it patted Gaster a few times. It was hard to see, but he could make out a tiny round peach face with purple dots glowing. Calming warmth sinking into his soul, could it be Alice trying to comfort him? Gaster reached out a hand, placing it on the side of the girl's wet face. Gaster's hand carefully gliding across her face, wiping away tears. "It's...alright Ali…" the end of his sentence was cut off as the baby's cry broke the silence, and Alice was pulled away from him.

"What the fuck, its eyes are glowing."

"Let them go" Gaster yelled shaking his head trying to get his vision back.

"Tra la la…I said we're not going to harm the baby…But that thing." a gravelly male spoke as the chain was unbound around the skeleton's legs. Gaster turned his head to the side at the sound of a high pitched whipper. It was hard to see, but he could make out the silhouette shape of his son being placed next to his left hand. Tiny hands tugged on his fingers. Everything was blurry shadows as his mind became fuzzy. Far away, he heard mumbling voices, making out a few things being said.

"Take the soul"

"It bit me."

"Grab its legs."

"Hold it down"

"Dust it"

"No!" Gaster's voice cracked as his orange-blue light flared out of both eye sockets. He was going to save his daughter even if it meant him getting dusted in the process. Quickly petting the side of Baby Sans' face before spring up to the feet. He could barely make out what was in front of him; he was still able to make out a silhouette of a tiny creature wigging on the ground, and limbs being held down by a mass of shadows. All he had to do was use the last of his magic to summon bones and dust the demons.

"Stop him before" a croaky voice yelled as one shadow figure disappeared from the group. Gaster and the Sans within, felt something stick to the back of the skull. Darkness covered everything as souls slipped into a still quietness.

"Wingding…..Wingding"

The darkness was slowly evaporating as a glowing light and a blurred shadowy figure repeated the name over and over. Their body hovers over Gaster's eyesight. The skeleton heavily groaned slowly trying to lift his shaking body but failed and trembled back into the mud. He could feel a smooth damp arm reached around the back of him as it slowly lifted the skeleton up into a seated position. "Alex," Gaster spoke in a shaky voice as his eyesight could now make out a green scaled water monster kneeling down beside him.

"Dude, what fuck happen?" Alex was frowning while taking his hand off Gaster's forehead as a glowing green light disappeared. This expression bothered the skeleton, who was used to seeing the Captain of the Royal guard, with a wide grin that would show off his shiny piranha teeth, underneath. Instead of being pumped with energy, a dismal aura surrounded him. A bit of sweat could be seen glimmering on the side of his scaly face and fiery damp red hair slugged over his shoulder. The water monster slowly stood up trying to wipe off the wet mud that was soaked in his bleached out blue jeans. "You're lucky that…."

The sound of tiny cries caused Gaster to groan in pain as if his skull was being split into two. All memory of what had happened before he blacking out, rush back to him. There was no sign of any hooded monsters, just the gray dust covering the destroyed flowers and ground. Where are the children? "Sans?!" Gaster yelled at the sound of crying became louder making it clear there was a baby.

A couple yards away, a blue scaly water monster sitting on the grass was humming a little tune while cuddling a baby in her arms. In front of them were two tiny white kitty-puppy monsters wearing a blue shirt and making whimpering noises. "Thank you, Temmies we can take it from here." the water monster spoke with a high pitch female voice petting the black hairs of the kitty-puppy. Tiny monsters nod their head towards her then to each other before scampering away. "It's Alright Sans…Aunt Urd has you." She smiled pushing a strand of white-slivery hair behind her blue fin ears.

"Calm down Wingding….You're scaring your son…" Alex said hushing him while leaning over, placing a hand on the skeleton's shoulder.

"Where's my daughter?" Gaster snapped smacking the hand away causing his eye sockets to flare up with magic for a second. He was not a child; there's no need to comfort him. All he wanted to know was where his other child was taken.

"So the rumors were true?" Alex sighed looking away from Gaster, dragging his red rain boots through the mud towards Urd. His soulmate shakes her head as tears filled her eyes. She looked at Gaster then something a few feet beside her. There on the ground was a lump object complete coved by muddy white and red cloth. Alex leaned over carefully picking up the wrapped up object, before heading back to the skeleton, holding it out for him to take. Bony hands rattled as it reached out and took hold of the bundle of cloth.

The skeleton's soul screams in agony when Gaster realized he was holding his lab coat stained with blood. Fingers trembled as it slowly started to unwrap the bundle. Praying there was nothing inside and it was just heavy from dampness from the wet grass and mud. All of this was a horrible nightmare. His heart broke into two at the sight of gray dust partly covered in black raven hair. Cradling in his arms was tiny human he had sworn to protect.

"I'm sorry Gaster by the time we got here. The poor….."

"Alice. Wake up …Sweety" Gaster tried to speak calmly as he could while choking back the tears, lightly shaking the motionless child. Fingers lightly touched the side of the girl's face expecting any moment now her eyes would open and a sweet smile would spread across it. A silent giggling would escape her lips before embracing tiny arms around his neck. The child's eyes would glow purple making an aura around both of them, calm and safe. Proving that all of this mess was some terrible joke. None of this was happening or will ever happen again. Orange-blue tears started to form in the skeleton's orbs at the sight of Alice's chest. Where there should have been a beating human child's heart filled with love, was an empty black bloody hole. Why couldn't humans be like monsters and turn to dust when they died? That way, part of him could believe she escaped sound and safe. The cold corpse in his arm told him the truth. No matter how much he wished it, he couldn't bring back his daughter. Never again would he be able to see her stick out her tongue at the sight of ketchup, make bubble beards on her face during a bath with Sans or just light up a room with her adorable smile. All of it was gone. Everything became a blur as tears filled his eyes sockets making it hard to see.

"Sans?" a male voice called out as a bony finger brushed the tears out of his eye socket. There before his eyes was a blurred image of a skull with a vertical and geometric shape to it. "Did you have a nightmare, brother?" a male voice spoke, in concern.

"Paps" Sans asked as more tears filled his eyes. Alphys had warned him about dwelling in other monster's memories. The blue soul ached with pain as his mind filled with sorrow and hate. Part of him wanted to march right into the New Home to scream at King Asgore and …. Blaming him would not stop this feeling of sorrow that was not truly his own feelings. All of these emotions belong to his father. He couldn't stop crying. Losing a loved one was never easy, no matter how many times it happened.

"It's alright…I'm here." Papyrus choked pulling San's into an awkward hug. Orange light glowed from his eye sockets trying to cover the shorter skeleton into a calming aura. It was strange seeing the smiley older skeleton crying. Papyrus was not sure how to handle this; it was usually the younger one that needed comforting and reassuring about things. Did Sans need go see Alphys again, was it the soul again or just a nightmare? "Are you in pain?"

"No….Just a nightmare."

"Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"No!"

"Alright…You can tell me when you're ready...Maybe you should stay home and rest more if you're still tired."

"How long have I been asleep?" Sans asked hearing a light sound of birds chirping outside the window.

"All of yesterday," Papyrus said slowly pulling away from his brother.

"Why are you still in your pajamas, what about work?" Sans asked noticing his younger brother's blue pajama with rubber duck pattern. It's a bit childish for a male teenager to wear, but it was fitting for Papyrus' personality. It would be lying to say it was not adorably cute on him.

"I called off for both of us."

"Playing hooky…Looks like I'm finally rubbing off on you, Bro" Sans chuckled, slipping off the damp white cotton shirt that was covered in tears.

"I'm not lazy bones like you…Someone had to make sure you didn't have that strange soul attack again..." Papyrus huffed folding his arms, slightly turning away. Why did Sans always have to turn a serious thing into a joke? Couldn't he see that Papyrus was sickly worry about him? This was the second morning in a row that the older skeleton had been found lying in bed in pain. Alphys told Papyrus, there was nothing to worry about and she was a scientist so she had to know what she was doing. If Sans said it was just a nightmare he would have to believe him for the time being.

"So are you playing housewife, today?" Sans snickered while looking down at the floor spotting a bunched up pink fabric which resembles the same color as his "kiss the Great Papyrus" apron.

"I'm preparing a special dinner, tonight"

"What for?"

"A family dinner."

"Are you asking me on a date?" Sans joked hopping off the mattress. He bends down a bit as he picked up shirt after another, trying to find one that was not covered in ketchup or other stains.

"Stop fooling around…Mettaton and Ariel are joining us." Papyrus said with a hint of glee in his voice. He couldn't wait for Sans to finally get to know their little sister.

"What? I thought you said family…Why is the circuit board coming?" Sans' eyes rolled before pulling a shirt over his skull. Spending time with Mettaton was aggravating. It's kind of like having two Papyrus around, but one of them was girly and a bit stuck-up for his taste.

"I know you don't like him…. Mettaton is my sou…." Papyrus tried to argue but stopped as a bony hand was placed on his large teeth.

"Fine….So Ariel is coming?" Sans asked, trying to change the subject to something else. It was not surprising that Papyrus was getting along with Arial in this timeline too. Who could hate such a warm, kind monster like his younger brother? He hated to admit it, but he was kind of happy Mettaton was coming over too. The robot ghost could keep Papyrus distracted, letting him have chances to speak to the girl alone. He still had to ask her about the Secret Laboratory and if she knew anything about Alice. There had to be a reason that Gaster was showing him those visions, besides revealing that sans once had an adopted, older sister.

"Yup…Unless you're not up for visitors today?" Papyrus said in concern still worried for his brother's heath.

"It sounds like bonefied fun…I'm heading to Grillby's," Sans said putting on his winter jacket. Gaster's prolonged feelings of sadness and hopelessness still dwelling in his blue soul. If he was going to make it to dinner time without breaking into tears again, he had to wash some of these depressing emotions away with some good old fireball whiskey.

"Dinner at 8 pm….Be careful. "Papyrus called out as a silhouette of a short figure nodded his head disappearing into a blue light. There's still a bit of worry in the skeleton's voice as he sighed, picking up the pink apron off the floor. They were both friends with the fire monster, but he couldn't stand the greasy place. He was sure Sans felt the same until he turned eighteen. Deep down Papyrus knows why his brother loved going to Grillby's Tavern these days. It was the only place Sans could get drunk without his little brother nagging him to stop and talk about his feelings. In the Underground, the legal drinking age was eighteen when monsters were finally recognized as an adult. Papyrus didn't care if the older one had a drink time to time, but he hated when they used it to numb their feelings. He could never understand why monsters would drink their problems away. The skeleton brothers were not little children anyone, Papyrus didn't need to be protected anymore from harsh reality. Why couldn't Sans talk to him about his troubles so they could try to work on what bothers him, together? "At least Grillbz can keep eye on him for me." deeply sighing as Papyrus walk out of the bedroom to get the house ready for dinner time while in the back of his mind hoping Sans was just visiting his best friend and nothing else to it.


	17. Chapter 16

Light puffy flakes fell from the opening in the cavern wall, gently landing on the rooftop of the tiny village of snow and ice. The chilling night breeze tapped against the tavern windows. A dim light glowed through an orange tinted window as a fiery hand flipped the brown "open" sign to "closed ". A flame turned into a smile on the male fire monster's face, noticing a figure on the other side, dressed all in black standing on the doorsteps. Disappearing out of sight as the tavern door quickly swung open and he reached out, pulling the hooded figure inside and shutting the door. Partly melted snow fell off of hood onto the wooden floor as he slowly pulled down it down, revealing a black raven haired human-skeleton girl. Both their hearts raced as the fire monster cupped the girl's chin, bringing her into a tender warm kiss.

"Grillbz, it's bad luck… to see me…before the…" Ariel muffled, pulling away for a short second before being pulled into another kiss. Rocky lips were placed on her soft lips and bony teeth.

"You're adorable," Grillby whispered pulling her into a loving embrace as the warm flames surround her tiny framed body.

"GRILLBZ…No…" Arial shouted untangling his arms from around her and taking a few steps back. She blushed as flames on her lover's head turned a lustful red. Biting the bottom of her lip while taking another step back causing her to hit against a hard surface. Looking quickly over her shoulder, she noticed it was the edge of a booth table.

"I can't wait any longer," Grillby said with determination and passion, taking a step forward as arms reacted around his love's waist before pushing her on top of the booth table. Ariel giggled and told him, no, but her insides tingled with excitement hearing the unzipping of her robe. A soft moan escaped the girl's lips as his leg pressed between her thighs. A skeleton hand placed on the back of the fiery neck as she leaned up for a kiss. The flaming rock mouth opened slightly as a purple tongue entered inside it before pulling away as a flame tongue entered into hers. Groaning as his tongue sizzled a bit from the wetness inside his lover's mouth. The pain didn't seem to bother him too much while deepening the passionate kiss, causing the girl's skeleton parts to rattle before pulling away. The human-skeleton breathed heavy trying to regain self-control from loss of oxygen.

In the reflection of the fire monster's glasses, Arial could see her glowing tiny purple heart floating in her right eye socket as a steamy hot flaming body leaned over her, covering her completely. His hot tongue crawled slowly down her fleshy neck before retracting as Grillby pressed his face into her collarbone. Rock mouth clasping lightly on the skin, sucking on it hard, leaving behind lovers bruises down the neck. The girl moans in a fit of pleasure and pain. Grasping as her fingers dug into her lover's vest, trying to keep what little sanity she had left. Ariel's mind had quickly become fuzzy as warm flames brushed up against her again. She giggled playfully as her fingers slowly undone the buttons on the bartender's vest and white dress shirt. Her human half's skin flushed a deep red not sure if it was caused by heat coming from the smooth orange flaming chest or the desire for the monster that stirred her insides. Fiery hands slip under her dress and between her legs, spreading them apart as if he read her mind. " Grillbz" she cried in pleasure, closing her eyes as a shrug of excitement ran up her spine.

"You like that don't you…..You freaky abomination" Grillby's deep-voice twisted into a high pitch shrieking snicker.

Chills of fear ran down Arial's spine, slowly opening her eye to find a blurry yellow-white round object waving up and down in front of her face. She awoke from her dream and was in her room lying on the bed as a demonic flower was continuing to laugh. Arial opened her mouth slightly to scream but was caught off guard as a waxy smooth vine covered her mouth to muffle out the sound. A moment before, she was having a very nice hot dream only to be awakened into a nightmare. Her body twitched as something crept up her torso toward a sensitive rib. Peeking out from under her nightgown was a jagged grinning demonic flower.

"Howdy, Subject Two!" Flowey snickers, twisting the main vine of his body around the human-skeleton's neck. One tight twisted around her neck could easily snap it into two. Flowey brushed his cheek against the fleshy side of Arial's face. He wouldn't say out loud, but he misses the warmth of her soul. It didn't matter; the aura was a mix of fear and anger. He wished he could stay like this forever, to be able to feel emotions that his soulless body couldn't conjure. He could keep her as a pet in the Ruins where no one will find her until the next reset. It would be easy to rip her right hand right off and snap the legs into two. He did it all before, broke her bones in the other timeline. First, he had to finish the mission he was sent out to do. "Ouch, You BITCH!" he cried as her teeth ripped a chuck out of one of his leaves.

Arial gagged a bit at the bitter green residue left on her purple ecto tongue. "Flowey…What the hell are you doing here?" the purple light flared in Arial's right eye socket, green liquid dripped from the side of her pale pink lips. The demon snickered as he wiggled a vine under her clothing as it rubbed against one of her ribs. "Stop that!" she moans before biting her lips. The flower had a mind of a twelve-year-old. So it was hard to tell if he was doing it on purpose or ignorance as the vine under her clothing grazed another sensitive area of her body. Of all the days Flowey had to sneak into her room, it had to be during a lewd dream. How did he get into her room anyway? Alphys made sure to put bars and locks over her bedroom window after the last time the devil weed paid them a visit.

"Is that how you treat your only true friend?!" Flowey yelled as vines burst through the vent near Ariel's bed and slivered across the floor and up on the bed. She was being a very rude child that needed to be reminded of her place in the world. Vines wrap around each of her limbs. "Did you forget I use to play in the air ducts when we were younger?"

"GO to HELL!" Arial spat into his face while trying to wiggle her arms free. No luck of freedom, as the vines tighten its grip. The bones rattled in fear as her body was lifted out of bed and placed in front her closet door.

"I'm already there…Miss Freak Show…You think you're so special because that Fatso and Dimwit showed you some kindness…Please, they are just using you." Flowey whispered into the girl's ear as a leaf cupped her chin, forcing her to look into the reflection cast in the mirror hanging from the closet door. The flower's oval shape face twisted and shifted from white to a scaly yellow. "P…poor use…less Eexperiment" the voice and face of Alphys laughed as his leaf begun petting the side of the girl's bony face. "Woowie, you're ugly for a skeleton" disguised voice sounding like Papyrus as a leaf yanked on the girl's raven hair.

"Stop it!" Arial shrieked and pleaded, turning her head away from his face that looked identical to her taller skeleton brother. Deep wicked high pitch laughter rattled inside her skull causing her to look back at the reflection in the mirror. All of it was just illusions created by the demon plant. His magic twisted his oval white face to mimic other creatures and whispering hateful things in the girl's ear. What crushed every fiber of her soul more, was hearing a voices sounding like her loved ones. A tiny childlike voice in the back of Arial's mind told her they were all lies and not to listen. It was hard to ignore the taunting when her body was nothing but a rag doll in a demon's clutches. There was some truth to it. She was a waste of spac, who only causes trouble for others. If she wasn't around, Alphys wouldn't have to live inside the Royal Laboratory all the time. Maybe she would have already started to date Undye. Her brothers would still have their father. Useless Trash!

Vines pulled at the girl's black gown tugging hard in different directions. A tiny cry escaped her lips at the sound of the thread of a seam ripping into two. Ariel's body crumbled to her knees, hunching over trying to use what was left of the gown to cover up her deformed body. It was useless as vines took it away while grasping her head forcing her to look at the horrifying reflection in the mirror. She could see the ugly peach flesh of a flat chested girl's body on the left and scars going down the left arm. Tiny crack lines around her right eye socket and right bony hand. Half human female face on left and skull on right made her look like an ugly dummy that should be used in a human's science class to teach kids about the human body. Again the tiny voice in the back of her mind tries speaking up. Doing its best by telling her she was not damaged and it didn't matter what she looked like. It was her smile and kind heart that made her special. Those words of encouragement were pushed away as Flowey peeks over her shoulder snickering into her ear. His face quickly changes into bright orange-yellow flames.

"I could never love an abomination like you" Grillby spat red-orange lava liquid at her face. It was just watery spit but it still stung.

"Please stop" the words crushed Arial's heart as purple tears streamed down her face. It was true, all of it. She was neither a human nor a skeleton. Nothing, but a freak. Grillby was her childhood friend, but he hadn't seen her face yet. Their friendship surely would end in a heartbeat at the sight of her face. Why would anyone truly love something that was unattractive?

"You're nothing, but a disappointing experiment," a fake Gaster whispered into her ear.

"Stop it" Arial cried feeling her heart crumble. What was she doing playing house with Alphys when she should have been looking for a way to break the barrier. Experiments were things that were meant to be used and tossed away when they became obsolete. She doesn't deserve a loving family and they probably just put up with her, anyway.

"You know it's all true…Don't worry I know a way to redeem yourself, Two." Flowey smiled as vines careful separated from around the heartbroken girl. She was so easy to mess with in this new timeline. He wondered what Chara did to the tiny spark in her soul to keep it quiet. As long as the girl didn't whip out her scythe, there was nothing to fear.

"How?"

"By bringing down the barrier of course….Luck for you, the final human has fallen into the ruins"

"I can't …."

"Don't you want to free your brothers?"

"I do, but…"

"Just bring them to the King and he will take their soul" Flowey's calm voice turned vicious, using a leaf to brush a few hairs out of his prey's face. He preferred the teary face than stupid half smiles. A green tongue slithered out of the blackened mouth, licking the sweet salty tears.

"What do I have to do," Arial asked, disgusted with herself for listening to the flower. A wicked creature that loved to prey on other's fears. Picking at it, until the victim was left with a horrible feeling in their soul. This is how she was feeling inside while bringing her knees closer to her body and wrapping arms around them. Placing her face on her lap, she began to pick at the brunt scars on the fleshy arm with her delicate bony hand.

"The Keeper of the Ruin is being protective, but the human would rather leave, instead. I told them I would help..but…The Keeper really doesn't like me. So I need you to gain her trust." Flowey sighed, opening the closet and dug through the clothing. Did the girl own anything that was not black?

"I wonder why." Arial sounded a bit snobby, rolling her eye. "So how am I going to gain the Keepers trust?"

"The same way you earned the Fatso's." Flowey urged, tossing the dark clothing into the air. The girl was so naive, just like the taller skeleton. It was like they were cut from the same cloth. Both of them were kind-hearted but had trouble realizing how important they were to other. There was a time he enjoyed their company, after a while that kindness started to sicken him and bore him to death. The flower groaned at a memory of playing house with Arial and dolls made out of cloth with a red face. He was positive to this day, she used blood to paint on those smiley faces…Which was a bit creepy, in his opinion. Chills of excitement beamed from the flower's steam at the sight of the perfect outfit. Its was a odd foreign clothing, but it should do while meeting a monster of high standards. "Here" tossing the clothing at the girl's face.

"If this doesn't work," Arial said standing up to slip on a solid black petticoat before leaning over to pick up a purple top. White lily patterns decorate the purple fabric as it flows over her shoulders. Wide sleeves completely covering both hands from view. Black leggings were pulled over her legs, before slipping on and buckling up white dress shoes. She laughed a bit at her reflection in the mirror. It was funny, she almost resembled something from one of those Japanese horror films she used to watch with Alphys as a child until it gave both of them nightmares. What was the creature called again, zombie?

"Don't worry I'm sure your heart will back you up….KILL them before they kill you, Right…" Flowey snickered behind her as he tries to tie the long, wide, and black fabric into a bow. Groaning a few times trying to get it right as his leaf tangled up in the stupid cloth. This was so useless without thumbs. "Remember you're doing it for them…You don't want to disp …"

A knock on the door caused Arial to jump a bit looking at the door then quickly over her shoulder to find no trace of the demon flower in the room. The wicked thing must have slithered back into the vents.

"Come in" she called using the sleeves to wipe all traces of tears off her face. Looking into the mirror, she braided her long hair. Behind her, the door slowly opened as a worried Alphys step into the room.

"Ari…al…" Alphys gasped covering her mouth at the sight of her beautiful daughter. This was so unlike the child to wear something that was not completely black. Maybe the visit with Papyrus yesterday finally give the girl courage to step out of her shell a bit. It was like looking at a real-life anime girl. The purple fabric matched her iris perfectly. "I knew you…w...would look lovely…in Wa Lolita fashion" Alphys smiled as a few happy tears ran down the side of her face as she stood behind the girl to help fix the black bow in the back. Never in her wildness dream would she have guessed her daughter would wear something that was not the ugly old ancient robes.

"Thank you…mom…I was thinking about stopping by Grillby's...before going over to my brother's." Arial partly lied grabbing her black fox mask with the white triangles under the eyehole area and a dot in the center of the forehead with wings spreading out from the circle. She could hear Alphys gasping in excitement behind her as she walked over to the desk. Grabbing a messenger bag, she began stuffing it with a sketchbook and pens. Not sure if the story about the human was true or not, but she still had to visit her brothers later. Even if her heart was not into seeing them, but she did promise Papyrus to draw him something.

"I'm just grabbing some food…It's not…what…you think… Ummmmm… Is Miss Undyne…."Arial was cut off as they heard a crashing sound, coming from the main area of the laboratory. "I'm guessing that's her?" placing a hand over her left ear.

"Y…es…..She insisted t...to… help me fix…the main computer." Alphys replied in a scared-saddened voice as she already regretted letting her friend help. Undye was as strong as an ox but had no clue when it came to technology. Alphys tried telling her, no, but maybe working together could bring them closer and could cause the water monster to become interested in science. The thought of the red head's hair pinned up in a messy bun and wearing nothing but lab coat, made the dino monster's insides tingle. The longer the image dwelled in her mind, the more her flushed pink color spread across her yellow scaly face. The sound of breaking glass and Undyne yelling her name called over and over brought her back to reality. It sounded like the rest of the lab was under attack and Undyne was the wrecking ball.

Arial walked beside Alphys as they head towards the loud noises. She laughed a bit when noticing Undyne trying to use a fire extinguisher to put out the main computer. The poor water monster was covered in more wet foam than the fire.

"Stay safe …If you start feeling u…uncomfortable p…please call me…" Alphys said, bring her daughter into a loving hug. "Have a g..good day…dear?" Alphys watched her daughter as she put the black fox mask on and walk out through the laboratory door, into the Hotland's heat.

"Are you sure it's alright….After what happened last night?" Undyne asked Alphys in a low voice only for her to hear, while looking toward the door as well. She reached around her back and took a towel that was hanging from her back pocket. "What if she blanks out again and that girl attacks?…" She asked while rubbing her face clean.

"I'm sure….i..it will…..be a…alright," Alphys spoke in a nervous voice, not sure of her own words. "She p..promises not to do it a…anymore…..It wasn't Arial's fault." her eyes sadden at the thought of the battle that happened yesterday.

"Don't worry, I'm sure the skeleton brothers will keep her safe," Undyne said standing behind Alphys as she pulled her crush into a messy foamy embrace. Alphys then finally burst into the laughter she had held back while Undyne wasn't sure what she was laughing about.


	18. Chapter 17

Hot air outside was stuffy like being inside an oven. Those who were not used to the smothering and claustrophobic heat could find Hotland to be an unwelcoming dry, hot place to live. It didn't help that it was the weekend, in the midafternoon it would be packed with monsters from other regions. All of them would be heading towards the MTT Resort or desperately trying to get a ticket to see one of the live showings of Mettaton. During those times of the day, the human-skeleton would stay indoors with her scaly mother. It wasn't because of fear of the sweaty bodies touching her or the overwhelming heat of too many bodies pushed together like a sardine can. It was a simple fact that large groups made her anxiety run high. It was still early in the morning so there were only a few monsters to deal with as they rushed to get to work on time.

The seaming hot smooth ground turned into rocky steps as Arial took a left turn at the fork in the road, down steps that led down to a darkened cavern. There, only sources of light were many glowing red sticks imbed in the black craven wall. Under the black fox mask, she smiled to herself when the path ends at the river bank. No one here waiting for the riverboat which was a relief. She hated the weird feeling when strangers felt the need to say something to her, like being in an elevator. It was usually the mundane small talk about the weather or any obvious statement that didn't need to be said out loud. Why couldn't people just simply nod their head to acknowledge each other's presence and leave it at that? This is probably why she enjoyed Grillby's company. Both of them didn't like drawing too much attention to themselves. They liked standing in the shadows admiring the world around them.

A light splashing of water hit the edge of the rocky ground of the river bank as she started to board the little boat. The girl shivered and took a few steps back. For others, the sound of water had a calming effect, but for her, it was a bit unsettling. Arial couldn't explain why she felt that way. She tried going to Waterfall alone as a child. The whole time her heart wouldn't stop racing and the tiny voice screaming in the back of her skull saying to leave the region. In one of the Waterfall caverns, there was a room with a piano. Arial smiled at the memory of herself sitting at a piano, trying to learn the song that her lost creator taught her to calm the soul. Remembering herself carefully pushing each note one by one.

Out of nowhere, a short hooded figure in a raincoat and gloves, took a seat next to her as she sat down in the boat. They started to play music for her. Ariel was a bit terrified at first until they took off the glove and placed a fiery orange-yellow hand over her black glove. Words were not needed to know it was her best friend that was next to her. It was hard to explain, but her soul knew the difference between Grillby's flames and other fire monsters. The flames were more orange tint than red and the warmth of his touch always made her feel safe.

Ariel still wore her black fox mask so her blushing face was hidden from the world. It started off as an innocent childhood memory of Grillby but quickly turned to a flashback of the lewd dream she previously had. What was wrong with her? They were just friends. The tiny voice started to tell her to go to Grillby's while her own timid voice told her to go to the Ruins to collect the human. Arial's muffled screams echo inside the mask, a painful throbbing feeling had started burning within her heart. It was as if her soul was waging a war on its own self.

"Tra la la….Care for a ride?...Where will we go today?…Snowdin?"

"NO!" Arial shouted at the top of her lungs as her whole body give out from under her and fell towards the river. Black gloved hands reached out and caught the girl in time. The sound of her dress shoes tapping against a wooden floor as the gloved hands careful placed the girl onto the wooden boat. There before her was tall black hoodie figure. "Thank you…. Mr. River Person" speaking in a muffled voice as she turned her head away slightly out of embarrassment.

The hood monster nods his head patting the girl softly on the head. Its head darted side to side looking for any other passengers to board the boat. "Tra la la…Good morning….Miss Arial Skeleton Dino" the River Person said in gravelly male voice.

"How did you know…I never wore this before" Arial said sliding the fox mask to the side of her head so it was easier to speak to the hooded creature.

"Call it a hunch….Snowdin correct… Tra la la?"

"Not today"

" Tra la la …Are you really sure you don't want to see Mr. Grillby Flame, today?"

"I'm sure, Mr. Charon …Could you take me somewhere off your usual routing." Arial asked smiling sweetly at the hooded monster. The River Person had always been referred as the River Person to most of the Underground, due to the fact they never revealed their gender or information about themselves to anyone. Human-skeleton was not bright like Alphys when it came to science and nerdy stuff, but she did have a passion to learn about the different monster culture. One best way to learn about it was through mythology and lore. Sure it was mostly all written by humans but it did help figure out who the River Person may have been once upon a time. It only started off as a simple a joke, called him Charon, because he was a hooded ferryman. Instead of transporting the dead, it was monsters. Which kind of made him freak out the first time she said his name out loud and told her to keep quiet about it in return he would give robes shield her identity. Which she agreed and had keep promise for the last eight years. It didn't mean she wouldn't ask him for a favor from time to time to use his magical ability to transport.

"Pity…Where would Miss Dino like to go then… Tra la la?" Charon sighed which quickly turned into a snicker.

"Closest you can to the Ruins, please," Arial asked him kindly with a smile while sitting down. Charon was not her friend at all, but it was best to be polite when dealing with an ancient creature. She was not sure how much Greek mythology was true about him or how he came to the Underground. She really didn't want to know either out fear if she pressed him too much for information she would wind up somewhere more hellish then the river of lava in Hotland.

" Tra la la…Why do you want to go there?" Charon asked cocking their hood to the side in curiosity, looking back at the child's request.

"It's a secret," Arial replied as her eye lowered while digging into her massager bag before extending it out in front of her, holding up three silver coins. Traveling regular river route between Snowdin, Waterfall, and Hotland were free for passengers which were paid by the King, but special trips required money. A gloved hand quickly grabs the coins from her and tosses it into the blackness of Charon's hood. Arial always hated this part as she covered her ears as a loud grinning noise mixed with the sound of nails on a chalkboard echo out of Charon's hood.

The boat slowly raised from the water as two tiny feet sprouted from underneath each side. Arial grasped the edge of the wooden seat as it started to speed down the river. Giggling a bit as cooling waters splashed on to the boat and few drips lightly touched the side of her face. Once they were far away from the river dock and out of sight, Charon placed a hand on the longbow of the boat, shaped into a dog face as yellow magic traveled down their finger cast over the boat and all habitats aboard into the light. Everything around them fuzzed out into blackness then bright whiteness which caused Arial to shut her eye for a moment or two. Slowly opening the eye to find the boat had stopped next to a red fishing rod affixed to the ground and a gray rocky path surround by snow. The cold freezing wind nipped at her exposed cheek causing her human side to shiver. She started to miss her heavy, warm, and black robe dearly. Maybe she could borrow one from Charon? She looked up at him to speak but stopped as a dark aura loomed around her.

"Tra la la…Just thinking about another raven-haired child…Poor dear….She doesn't know when to quit…" Charon spoke as the tall hooded body cast a shadow on the girl. Two yellow orbs beamed from inside the darkness of the hood while a gloved hand point at the girl's chest. "I could help you end this game of misfortune…but it would cost you more than a few simple coins….Tra la la"

"Um…No, Thank you…I need to get going…" Arial said shaking her head no, as her body started rattling while she stood up quickly darting out of the hooded man's reach and hopped on the rocky ground. She was not sure what was going on, but her soul was telling her it was time to leave before she regretted it. When she felt like she was a few feet away from him, she turns around quickly and took hold of the side of her black shirt and bowed her head. "Have a good day…Mr. River Person." She called out before running off.

"Tra la la…Stay clear of any rosy cheek children…Tra la la.

Arial didn't look back to ask what he meant by those last words as she kept on walking, not sure where she was going. The only thing she knew was the gate to the Ruins were located somewhere in the snowy forest. She knew this because Alphys kept hidden cameras in a bush located next to the gate's door. Why didn't she grab a map of Snowdin before leaving home? Stupid! She would have asked Charon how to get there, but purple soul wanted to get far away from him and the water. "FLOWEY" she cried hoping the demonic flower was nearby to help her find the place.

"What took you so long, idiot?" Flowey grumbled as a yellow-white oval face popped out from under the snow. Arial rolled her left eye and leaned over to ruffle the yellow petals. The flower hissed pushing the girl's hand away before sinking himself back into the snow and reappearing a yard away. "FREAK!" he yelled, waving a leaf asking the girl to follow him.

Arial heavily sighs walking over to Flowey. When she was only a few inches away from him, he sinks back into the ground, before popping up farther down the path. This keeps repeating until they came to a dead end in their path. There in front of them was a dark mass of purple rock wall that appeared to have no end to high and one entrance made of two doors, which bears the Delta Rune. Arial didn't like the look of this. Alphys had always told her to stay clear of anything bearing the royal family crest. "I'm sorry, mom." She thought as a few tears fell from her eyes. This was the girl's last chance to set everything right. Telling herself, whatever happens, no matter the cost, it was all for her loved one's sake. Her hands trembled with fear as she placed one on each door. There was no telling what was on the other side, but somewhere inside had to be the human child. Taking a deep breath, before slowly releasing it out of her lung as she presses hard on the purple doors of the Ruins. Pushing forward as hard as she could, her feet started digging deep into the snowy ground. Arial screamed in frustration pushing hard on the door, but it would not budge and there were no handles to pull it forward or back. "It's not, opening!" Arial groaned feeling around the doors in hopes there was a clue or keypad to help them get inside.

"Say knock…knock," Flowey whispered

"What?"

"Just do it!" Flowey barked in a low voice.

"Knock…Knock!" Arial called out while tapping on the door. A light rustling could be heard going on inside the cave as she placed an ear on the icy cold stone. "Could that be the Keeper, inside?" she wondered pressing her ear closer to the door.

"Oh, my…Your voice is new …Oh, I'm sorry….Who's there?" a female voice spoke from the other side of the door. The voice had a familiar smooth softness to it. Where did Arial hear that voice before? The human-skeleton backed away looking down at the flower, which was making waving gestures with his leaf for her to keep going.

"Adore."

"Adore who?"

"Adore stands between us, please open up!"

"That is good one Miss…I'm sorry I can't"

"It's Arial…Why not?"

"I need to keep my child safe."

A Child? Could the Keeper be referring to the human child? If so, this reminded her of Alphys taking pity on a child that didn't belong in the Underground. No, pity was not the word; it was unconditional love for their adopted children to keep them safe. Even if Arial was an abomination, she was not a heartless monster that would take a dear child from their mother. "What would Gaster have done?"a tiny scornful voice spoke within her soul. The girl sighed in agreement gripping her shaky human left arm. Her creator would put all feeling to the side and do what was needed. Take the child to King Asgore. Free the Underground. Don't look back."You kind of sound like my mom when I tried leaving the la….house alone for the first time…She was so scared. I told her I loved her and I would return… It was importation that I see the world on my own …The Underground can be a scary place, but it can also be amazing too."

"My child is different from the rest of the Underground...I fear there will be monsters who would wish to harm my child"

"Miss Keeper…I know how it is to be different…. I'm still terrified to let others see my true appearance...I can't even….." Arial bit her bottom lip slightly and lifted her head from the stone door. Legs trembled a bit and she wants to run away, but the purple soul encourager her to stay and persist. Monsters deserved to be free, especially Sans and Papyrus. Shouldn't they be able to sleep under same stars as the humans? Papyrus dreamed of capturing a human and becoming popular, but his soul was too soft to ever let any harm come to anyone. She had a feeling Sans could do it, but she didn't want to stain his soul with the dark task.

"Young lady, are you alright…What is it little…"

Arial's mind was pulled away from her thought as something tugged on the end of her black shirt. The demonic flower was looking up at her with his gray oval face and huge yellow teeth grinning. The girl's body was petrified as she was lost for words. This creature looked like her ex-friend, Flowey but there was dark hate flowing around him. Is this, what happens to soulless creature driven by only determination? A vine sprouted out in front of him then carved the word 'Love' into the snow. The plant's black oval eyes turned bloody red as a vine wrapped around Ariel's arm pulling her down to devil's body leave. "It's kill or be killed" chilling laughter echoed into the girl's ear.

"You naive child... If you leave the RUINS... They... ASGORE... Will kill you. I am the only one protecting you, do you understand?...You want me to invite the girl inside...What if…You have a point… Miss Arial, what led you here my dear?"

Flowey's gray face slowly turns to a bony white as it twisted into a round face of Sans. Arial slowly nods her head looking back to the Ruin doors. Guessing by the sound of the Keeper's voice, she must have been talking to the child. Part of Arial wanted to laugh hysterically at what she was about to do. Standing up straight before looking one more time at the word in the snow. Some would think it's a simple word expressing a warm feeling of endearment, but here in the Underground it had another meaning, 'Level of Violence'. "My older brother…He told me he had a friend that lived in the Runes." Arial lied, using her dress shoe to brush snow to cover the word before sliding the black fox mask over her face.

The ground shakes slightly, as the purple doors slowly wiggled opened. Arial took a few steps back at the sight of the creatures that appeared in the doorway. One of them was anthropomorphic goat monster wearing a long purple robe that displays the Delta Rune on her chest. Beside her, holding onto one of her fluffy white paws was a human child who wore a striped purple-blue shirt, blue pants, and brown shoes. Cold sweat trickled down the human-skeleton's spine while she bends her knees and bows her head in respected to the creature and the child. In the corner of her eye, she could see the angelic smile spread across the human's face. This made her purple soul feel uneasiness in the presence of the child. They were not giving off any strong dark aura, it seemed like they were hiding something by masking it with a fake smile. It was giving Arial the heebie-jeebies. Could this be how Flowey felt when she would smile for him to mask her pain and fears? She wants to ask him but didn't bother to look down to ask, already guessing that coward had slithered back underground soon as the ruin doors had started to open.

"So my Pun Friend's little sister…Do you like puns too child?" the Keeper smiled with concern in her voice while extending her free paw for Arial to take. She didn't fully trust the young monster, but her child seemed to. She couldn't remember the last time she enjoyed sharing puns with another female.

"Joker is my brother media …I don't think outside the fox once in a while" Arial giggled holing up her bony hand for the offered paw to take. She was expecting a simple respectable handshake, but instead, a hand gripped onto her hand as her body was quickly pulled into the Ruins. The goat monster released both the children's hands before placing a white paw on each of the doors. The bright morning light of Snowdin slowly disappeared behind doors. Arial's heart sunk at the sound of the clinking of a metal latch, locking the door completely shut.

"I hope you like butterscotch cinnamon pie." Toriel smiled, taking each of the children's hands and dragged them down a long hallway. Not even noticing the sound of bones shaking a bit as Arial looked over her shoulder as at the exit doors became father way. It was hard to explain, but she felt like a small child again being trapped and confined in a place she did not want to be. Part of her wanted to scream turn back, but other half keep quite as they went up a flight of stairs. Wooden floorboards creaked under their feet as they entered a large living space with a reading chair next to a small fireplace. Nearby was a bookcase filled with joke and pun titles Arial never heard of. Her inner bookworm wanted desperately to curl up in a cozy chair and lose herself in a sea of bone tickling words spread across each page, nicely tucked inside the books. The voice within her soul told her this was not time get sidetracked.

Toriel motion for the children to take a seat at the large dining table before disappearing into another room that appeared to be the kitchen. The fear of never seeing the outside world staring wash over Arial as she noticed the human child was expressing the same emotion she had while living with her creator. No matter how much you try asking to leave, they would not let you out.

"Frisk" the human child smiled, bowing before carefully taking girl's skeleton hand. Sweetly placing a quick, light kiss on the hand.

"Arial" She muffled behind her mask blushing a bit as the child took a seat next to her.

"There you go, dears" Toriel smiled placing a slice of pie and tea in front the children. A frown spread across her face noticing that the girl was still wearing the fox mask. She thought the child was being very rude to not at least try some of her pie after she put all of her motherly love into making it. Her large white paws reach around the front of the girl's face and carefully started to lift the mask up. A trembling bony hand quickly placed over the paw trying to force the mask back down. "It's alright dear I won't judge...You can't eat, with that silly thing on…Oh my, star child" goat monster gasped, taking a few steps back at the sight of the teenage girl's skull with left side partly covered with human flesh.

Arial quickly grabs her mask back and put on side her face before placing her hands on the table as she started to rise from the chair. Her body became heavy as white furry paws pressed on her shoulder causing her to crumble back into her chair. Without wasting time, Toriel pulled her and her chair into a tight hug while nuzzling the side of her face.

"Noooooo…It's alright…You wouldn't happen to be Gaster's little one?" the Keeper asked sweetly.

"How did you…" Arial asked trying again to stand up but couldn't budge an inch as the furry arms bound her to the chair. Hugs were meant to be warm and comforting, not intimidating.

"I thought so… You look like her…I guess my pun friend was Sans then…It's such a small world…"

"Miss Keeper?"

"You can call me, Aunt Toriel, my child…You should drink some tea. It's getting cold… Now…You said you had a mother earlier…Does that mean Gaster took on another soulmate?"

"No. He has been gone for ten years, She, my adopted mother…How long have you been here?" Arial asked carefully blowing the tea before taking a sip. The drink was slightly bitter with a hint of honey, warm, and smooth. Toriel appeared to be fragile, but the girl was starting to see why Flowey had asked for her help. The goat monster had an overprotective mother complex.

"Twelve years…Does King Asgore know you're alive? Is your mother a Royal Scientist?"

Arial's hand shaked a little as she placed the teacup back onto the table. She was starting to feel an unpleasant sensation of dizziness in her head while her body slouched over. Could it be she was low on magical energy? She was a bit hungry, but not enough to make her feel sluggish. "I don't think so…Why do you ask?" she asked taking a bit of the pie, hoping that would help.

"Is she?"

"Yes!"

"Then I'm sorry…I can't let either of you, children leave…" Toriel said slowly releasing her grip on Arial. "Let's see…You can stay in Frisk's room until I finish renovations in the other room…That should do…" Toriel spoke to herself as her voice started to travel off in thought as she started to walk away from the children.

"Wait? You can't keep me here...My mom and brothers are going to be wondering where I am." Arial leaped out of her chair, knocking some energy out of herself. Her body trembles a bit as her hands slide across the edge of the table using them to prop herself up as she slowly tried to walk towards Toriel. "What did yo…" the girl lost all concentration of thought as her body quickly shut down.

"I'm sorry again Ali…Arial, I promise to keep you safe this time….both of you…" Toriel said catching the girl in time while slowly placing her limp body on the ground. "I'm going to destroy the door so no one can ever leave…Please stay here…Look after her, Frisk" Toriel demanded as she placing a hand on the stair rail beginning to descend down the stairs.

"Mom...Please don't!" Frisk cried racing over and grabbing the back of Toriel's dress. The goat mother deeply sighed and carefully pushed the little human off of her. The child followed her down the steps pleading with her over and over to reconsider her plans.

"Frisks, I have to, child… His plan cannot be allowed to succeed…Be good little one, won't you? "she asked pulling the small child into a caring hug. A dark chilling aura drifted into the hallways. A gasp escaped Toriel's lips as she looked over Frisk's shoulder to see bones illuminated by purple light, hovering all around them. The air filled with bloodlust as a purple flame of hatred glared at them.

"NO! You can't keep us here…We will never belong to your family…" Arial's voice cried down the hallway. Her lips turned into a wicked smile. Her right arm raised into the air. Toriel quickly leans over and pulled Frisk in a hug shielding the child from danger. The halls echoed with screaming as bone pierced into Toriel's shoulder bone.

"Why are you doing this, my child?...I only want to help you."

"I HATE ALL YOU DREEMURRS," Arial yelled as bone cut the side of Toriel's left cheek.

"Why?...I see" Toriel coughed looking up and noticing tears dripping down the side of the girl's human face. Biting her bottom lip, Toriel carefully raised herself trying to block out the pain throbbing from her shoulder. A smile spread across her face while red blood dripped down the side. "I'm sorry, child, but I only want to keep all of you safe." she slid in front of Frisk, cupping a fireball.

Toriel breathed heavily staring at the sharp bones still hovered over her head then at human-skeleton before her. It had been millennium scent she had a battle a monster could use skeleton magic. Try to burn magical bone would be tricky, seeing would be moving at speed to fast for fire stay latch on. The only way to defeat the girl would use physical strength. How was she going to get close to the girl when she had to shield Frisk? "Child I need you do your best avoid the attacks." She spoke in a low voice as fireballs surround her body before aiming towards the human-skeleton.

Toriel fired flames toward Ariel. The girl rolled her eye in disappointment when the flames were blocked by bones that flew in front of her. Without warning, something white and furry smacked her hard across the left cheek. The taste of iron dripped down the side of her lip as she recovered from the sudden blow. Her eye caught sight of burning anger coming from dark crimson eyes.

"You're being a naughty child right now…Do you think your mothers would want blood on your hands." Toriel snapped, the dark red irises glaring into the girl's soul. A white paw gripped the child's shoulder tightly, with her other hand starting to swing towards Ariel's cheek to strike her a few more times. The sight of purple tears forming in the girl's eye causes the goat monster to finally stop her attack. Looking down, she could see Arial's hand turned into a fist and rub it in a circular motion across her chest close to the heart. Toriel nods her head before pulling the girl into a comforting hug. She couldn't blame the child for being angry with the Royal family even if she was not Queen anymore. It was still partly her fault for some of the misfortune that had fallen on the skeleton family. "It's alright dear…Aunt Toriel's not going to hurt you anymore…I'm sorry too." Speaking in a calm motherly voice she softly pets the child's raven hair.

Arial's body became heavy as it lends into the purple dress. Licking some of the blood from her lips and groan a bit at the soreness in her left cheek. No more words were spoken between them as the goat monster smiled, carefully kneeling down while still hugging the girl. The purple flames disappeared from the human-skeleton's right eye socket as her human eyelid closed. Opening her eye for a moment and noticing Frisk racing towards them then closed again. Opening her eye slightly for a second to notice a rosy cheek child beaming down at her with a twisted smile. Her mouth slightly moved to speak a name that was familiar, but time was up as she drifted off into a soulless sleep.

"Mom!"

"Are you feeling alright dear?"

Her eyelids slowly opened as Arial looked blankly up to find Toriel smiling down at her. Nodding her head slightly as she slowly raising her head from the comfort of the older woman's lap. Behind them was the exit doors, out of the Ruins.

"It's time for both you to go…Arial, I hope you and Sans can look after Frisk for me."

"You're… let…ting us go?" Arial chocked a bit at the sight of a large dark wet spot soaked in Toriel's clothing. Her trembling hand reaches up to touch but was quickly stopped as a paw grasped her wrist. "What happen to yo…"

Toriel placed a finger on Arial's lips hushing the girl to be quiet. She couldn't bear to hear another word from either of the children. She was sorry for being tough with them and not understanding their feelings, right away. There's so much they didn't know and needed to learn, but no time to waste. They had to leave now before she changes her mind. The ground shakes slightly, as she pressed hard on the purple doors, slowly opening. The afternoon light of Snowdin beamed into the room as goat mother pushed the children out into the cold snow "Both of you are good children…I hope you both find what you're looking for…Please do not come back. I hope both of you will understand….Goodbye Frisk…Al…Arial" Toriel's voice trailed away, disappearing behind the purple doors.

Arial stared at the large door in confusion. Did she miss something importation again? Didn't Toriel make a big deal about them staying in the Ruins with her forever? Toriel was hurt; shouldn't she go back and offered to heal her? The voice in the back of her mind told her it would be rude to go against the goat monster's last request. The reason she came to the Ruins in the first place was to collect the human child so she could take them to the King. The only way to get there was to go through MMT building which leads to the New Home, the Underground Capital. On foot, it would take all day to get there and the riverboat would be quicker. The thought of dealing with a large crowd of monsters in Hotland and New Home made her feel sick to her stomach. Then there was the problem of not getting back in time for Papyrus' special family dinner. The beating of the human-skeleton's heart raises as it tries to figure out what to do next.

"Arially"

Arial turned around in the direction of the voice only to end up with fluffy wet coldness splattered on her face. The human child giggled as they lean down to scoop up some more snow, carefully form it into a ball. "Frisk what are you doing?"

"Snowball?"

"No Frisk…Thank you" Arial smiled, crouched down, and took hold of the child's hand. They only had been out in cold for few minutes and little one's hands were already extremely red and cold to the touch. The human child must have noticed the fear that had overwhelmed her a moment ago, just trying to find a way to ease her mind. It's heartbreaking how adorable child showed companionship for someone secretly taking them to their doom. Not today, she didn't have the heart or willpower anymore to do it. Taking a deep breath, she cupped the tiny child hands over her soft-bony mouth, breathing warm air into them a few times. Until then, she would be kind and protect the little one from danger. Fill their heart with happy memories. "We should get to town."

Frisk nodded their head taking hold of Arial's bony hand, leading her down a path constant coniferous trees. A sturdy branch on the ground as they both pass by it. The human child stops a few feet from a bridge with bars going across, but the bars were too wide to stop anyone from walking through. Looking over their shoulder expecting someone to be there behind them, but no one there. Sadness filled their eyes as they tighten their grip on Arial's hand and keep on walking through the rest of Snowdin Forest together.


	19. Chapter 18

Freezing puffy flakes twist and turn in the howling winds. The temperature dropped to freezing and caused crystalized ice to spread across windows. In Snowdin, it was not common for the weather to be a clear lovely chilly day one moment then turn into a white hellish blizzard. During those times, the town's only tavern, Grillby's was packed with monsters drinking merrily to drown their sorrows and enjoy the warmth of the indoors away from the blistering cold. This is how the partially short skeleton felt as he drank eight shot of fire whiskey, down the hatch. Giggling hysterically, tell his puns from left to right. It was easy for Sans to appear to be happy when there was a permanent smile plastered on his face. His blue soul was still drowning in Gaster's emotions of losing a beloved child. He couldn't wrap his mind around how his father could love Alice so deeply but turn around and hurt Arial. From a scientist point of view, his actions were logical. When dealing with test subjects, it was importation to not get emotionally attached. Doing so could put a strain on the project and the final results.

"Grillbz," the short skeleton called out slumped over the bar table as he snickered. His mind felt hazy as lustful eyes glared up at the sexy flame monster. Maybe what he really needed was to feel something else that was less depressing? Bony hands reached out to grasp the bartender's vest, pulling Grillby down to his level. The smell of alcohol drifting from the skeleton's mouth, edging the flame monster close for a kiss, but was quickly cut off by a fire hand place over his teeth. "Why, Not?" Sans grumbled.

"I can't, Sans" Grillby sighed removing Sans' hands from his clothing, looking at the empty stool next to the skeleton. His fire soul was burning very brightly this morning but dimmed down with every passing hour. He hadn't seen his crush for days and started to worry something bad has happened to her. Arial had a habit of not showing up when Sans was around. The fire monster was getting tired of this hide-seek game he had to play with his two best friends. He grumbled to himself while clearing empty glasses and bottles off the bar table. How many more years was she going to hide from her fears? Grillby groaned a bit in anger, tightly wrapping his flame fingers around a beer bottle. The usually orange-yellow flamed hand quickly turned deep red, a glob of deep yellow started to ooze down the side of the bottle. Grillby opened his hand releasing a hot steaming lump of melted glass, onto the bar table. The redness in the flames was not going away. A cloud of uneasiness floated round Grillby, who didn't speak a word. Something was not right. The monsters surrounding the bar whispering to each other. Every once in while looking up at the fiery bartender, wondering what set him off, Stools started to slide across the floor as a few customers moved to another part of the tavern until Sans was only one left sitting at the bar.

"And you didn't even need a kiln. What's with the arts and crafts, hot head?" the skeleton deeply sighed picking up a half-empty bottle of beer, placing it in front of Grillby. He couldn't blame the other monsters feeling a bit intimidated at the moment seeing most of them were organic. The storm was still blowing hard outside, so there was nowhere for them to go. So it was up to the skeleton to calm down his friend before his elemental magic got out of hand.

Grillby hung his head in shame, reaching out for the beer, but stop to notice that his hands were still reddish. He couldn't do this anymore, keeping her a secret. Grillby carefully picking up the lump of glass, before using heat to mold it into a shape of a heart that fits in the palm of his hand. "Do you know anyone named Arial?"

"Yup sure do Pal...She's my half-sister…" He chuckled to himself as he remembered she was parted in two. "It's a long story… All I'm going to say is my pop was like a real-life Dr. Frankenstein but used DNA instead of corpses." Sans deeply sighed, looking at the glass heart in the fiery hand. He should have seen the sign a million timelines ago. He was so fixed on destroying the demon child that he didn't realize Grillby must have found his mate. Of all the monsters in the Underground, it had to be Arial. It was similar to what was happening with Papyrus, but this was different, the fire monster's relationship reset back to square one in each new timeline. A tiny groan escaped Sans' mouth as he quickly grabs his beer bottle and chucks it down. He was going to miss fooling around with Grillby, but his friendship was more important. He pulled his cell phone out of its pocket. Good pals always help their buddy get the girl of their dreams. "Yo, Undyne, are you at Alphys'…Can I speak with Ariel...I'm at Grillby's…No one here is wearing fox mask…I'M TELLING YOU SHE'S NOT HERE!" he shouted before hanging up the phone, not noticing he gained the attention of every monster in the tavern.

In the center of the tavern was four Royal Guard dogs seated around a table with poker cards, but none of them was playing as they looked at one another then at the skeleton sitting at the bar. A soft whimper escaped a tall white dog's mouth wearing metal-gray armor. He leaned over and rubbed his head against the head of a short dog in a pink muscle shirt. Which caused the dog to snap back, pointing a paw at the two hooded dogs across the table. Hard to tell what was being discussed seeing no one else was fluent in doggy. One of the hooded dogs broke away from the pack as they headed towards the bar.

The hooded dog leaned over the skeleton as a round snout poke out from underneath, smelling the air around them "You'r e looking for a fox… Right…I think she was a fox…But she smelled strange. Kinda like you, but." the voice spoke, pulling down their hood revealing a female dog with long eyelashes. Sniffing the air again trying to decide if she should continue speaking or not. "She also smelled like the weird tiny puppy she was with…I remember seeing them at one of those puzzles made by that tall skeleton...the one that smells like yummy tomato paste."

"Thanks." Sans nervously replied petting the female monster on the head. The dog monster seemed a bit weirded out by this, leaning in close to sniff the skeleton's jacket. His eyes grew wide as a wet dog nose pushed against him. Panic washed over him at the sound of his bones rattling. Bony hands quickly grabbed the edge of the bar table trying to use all of his willpower to not move an inch. " Grillbz!" he called out, scared at being so close to a canine, hoping she was not looking for a new chew toy.

Sans tried calling out again, but no one answer or sign of the flame monster. Leaning his arms back he pulled himself on to the other stool before crawling over the bar table. Behind the bar was off limits for customers, but he didn't care. Grillby knew skeletons disliked dogs and all, seeing that they were completely made out of bones. So why would he leave him alone with one, unless? "Shit!" Sans cried, heading towards the kitchen to find Grillby putting on a winter jacket. "You can't go out there…"

"I don't care…She's my soulm…Arial must be in danger!" Grillby yelled wrapping a scarf around his neck. Even if skeletons could withstand the cold, Sans comment she was a half-sister. It was hard to explain it, but his soul was trembling with concern and fear. No matter what, Grillby had to find her quick? A flame hand reached out for the back door of the kitchen, only to have his body fling against the wall. Gasping for air as he felt something pressing on his orange soul. "SANS!"

"Sorry, Pal," Sans said not making eye connected with Grillby. Never in his dreams, had he thought would he have to use magical psychokinesis on him. There was no way in hell he was going to watch his best friend risk his life in a blizzard. The fire monster could be right, Arial may be in danger. If she were caught in a storm then she would be in danger of getting hypothermia. What if in this timeline she took Papyrus' place to die at the edge of Snowdin's border? Pulling the cell phone back out of his pocket "Hey Undyne, I need Alphys to check all footage around the Snowdin Forest and the border that leads to Waterfall, for Ariel "Sans demanded gripping down hard on the phone and glaring at Grillby. "She's inside a sentry station …Stay here I will be back in a moment." his voice trailed off as blue light covered him completely, disappearing into thin air, reappearing in an area that was covered in a white cloud. Snowflakes were twisting all different direction in the wind.

"ARIEL!" Sans called out over and over again, the harsh blowing winds muffled out his voice. Placing an arm across his forehead, he leaned down trying to block some snow from blinding his vision. All around, there were snow sculptures with a long snake-like body, a few still supporting a head, shaped into a dog's face with its tongue hanging out. In the center of the snow-dogs was a station with windows closed tightly. "ARIEL!" he called gripping onto the wooden siding, bit fearful that wind could carry him away.

"Sans?" a weak voice called out from inside the station. The skeleton opened the back of the station door slowly finding a large lump covered in white cloth nuzzled in the corner. A soft purple light beamed from under the fabric. Stepping into the room, a bony hand extended out in front of him toward the lump, but stopped as the light disappeared. His mind became hazy as dark red crimson spots soaked through the fabric. The skeleton body shivered in fear while carefully placing a hand on top of the lump. Blue tears streamed down his cheekbone as the lump moved slightly coughing, red spots vanished.

"Al...Ariel" Sans cried, pulling down the cloth, finding a human-skeleton girl looking up with tired, cloudy eye. A weak half smiled spread across the pale human side face as a trembling hand wiped his tears away before resting on the side of his face. Pleasant calm feeling enveloped the blue soul as his skull relaxed deeper into the girl's hand. He could stay like this forever, forgetting sadness and darkness of life. All he needed was the quiet calmness of...A tiny cough was heard as it rushed Sans' mind back to reality, seeing a purple light glowing from Arial's left eye socket. "Don't" Sans snapped; knowing perfectly well, she was using magic to soothe his soul.

"Frisk...w..as…sca..red." Arial breathed heavy, tiny white clouds escaped her lips. Her bony hand slowly undid the rest of the white cloth around her body revealing a human child sitting on her lap. Her fingers ran through their brunette hair. The town was so far away and the blizzard came out of nowhere. Hiding in the station away from harsh winds helped, but didn't stop coldness from sucking the warmth from their bodies. Using magic was the only way to keep the child's spirit up and calm their soul. She couldn't sit by letting the last key to the monster's freedom, die.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" Sans asked glaring down at Frisk, who was burring their face into Arial's chest. No dark aura was dripping from the child or any sign of the rosy-cheeked demon. The skeleton couldn't let his grudge down. He knows perfectly well that the Kid had killed countless souls before that devil had ringed its neck into the picture. Their innocent act was making him sick to the stomach. The demon within them was a murdering sicko, but it didn't mean Frisk was a sweet angel. Blue orb flickered in his eye shocked as a bony hand reached towards the child. Wanting desperately to turn them into dust. Deep hatred filled the air as a dark shadow loomed over Frisk. The child's body turned slightly, smiling sweetly at Sans. Their tiny hand was tucked across their chest pulling away, purple light cast over their chest. Cupped between the tiny fingers was a purple heart. Every passing minute, it was losing its shimmer and glowing darker as magic seeped into the human child's body.

Arial smiled, carefully petting the side of the little one's warm cheeks. "Sorry…I want to fr…" Arial's weak voice trailed off, looking up at her older brother. Never losing her smile, leaning the human side of her face on Sans' shoulder, breathing in deep scent was embedded in the fabric of his blue jacket. She always hated the taste of ketchup, but it had a heavenly sweet smell to it.

"ARIAL…ALICE….ARIAL!" Sans screamed repeating the names over and over. His soul tangled up in emotions of sorrow, the blue-orange light glowed from under the cotton shirt. A bony hand placed on the back of the girl's raven hair, pulling her closer to him. No, he had to get control of himself, not letting Gaster's emotions take over. If he killed the Kid, then everything could reset, she would be alright. Just kill the human child. His bony hand reached out, tightly pressing around Frisk's tiny fragile neck.

"Sanssy" Frisk coughed, a smile spread across their face trying their best not to let it twist into a painful expression. A tiny hand slowly held up the pale purple heart in front of Sans' skull. The blue light vanished as two white orbs came into focus in the skeleton's eyes. Sans couldn't do it, the Kid hadn't done anything wrong in this timeline yet, it was Arial's decision to give them her soul. "Grillby's?" Kid asked as their eyes cast down on the cold wooden flooring.

"What?" the white lights in Sans grew in puzzlement at the Kid's request. This kid, had the guts to ask him to take them somewhere? He almost had the right of mind to let the brat die in the frozen cold, but Arial wished to save them. With a deep aggravating groan, a bony hand placed on top of the Kid's head as blue magic twisted around the three of them. In a blink of an eye, all three of them were on top of a large table. "GRILLBZ!" the skeleton screamed noticing that they were on top of a table laden with poker cards.

The howling, barking, and poker cards filled the air as the dogs were startled. His skeleton bones shivered at the sight of four dogs angrily looking down at him for interrupting their game. Frisk smiled at Sans while placing the purple soul in the skeleton's bony hand before standing up, turning away from him, and held out a friendly hand to pet each dog on the head. The dogs seemed to be enjoy petting time and calming down, but that didn't help Sans' anxiety, sitting on the table, like a deer caught in headlights.

Out of nowhere, fire hand place over Arial's cold cheek as an arm scooped under her limp body pulling her away from Sans, bringing the skeleton back to reality. The skeleton watched as the warm flames cradled completely around the tiny freezing girl's body. Grillby took a seat in an empty booth. His hand carefully brushed the fleshy face, the tip of his finger turned neon green.

"Grillbz…I'm sorry," Sans said weakly taking a seat across from the fire monster, placing a grayish purple heart on the table.

"Arial…Please wake up!" He called out running a hand through strands of raven hair. No movement, but for slight breathing in the chest. The fire soul screamed in a rage after all these years of yearning to see her face, only to have her life slowly slip from his heart. This was not right. No, he couldn't let her go, not like this, not his soulmate. The fire monster placed a hand on his chest, pulling away, heart cast in flames floated in his hand. Carefully taking his other hand to force the girl's mouth opened, while slipping the orange heart inside. The monster groaned a bit feeling a slight wetness touching the fire soul. What he was doing was reckless and forceful. Swapping souls was something that was only done between those that wished to become soulmates. For monsters, it was similar to humans exchanging rings. If potential mates were able to harbor each other's soul for a year, then they were true soulmates. If something went wrong they could both be dusted. Grillby screaming in agony, closing Arial's mouth shut, causing her body to jerk and twist, orange light beamed from under the skin until the heart rest nicely inside the girl's rib cage. "I'm sorry," Grillby said softly, picking up the gray-purple soul and swallowing it.

Without another thought, Grillby leaned over and pressed his rock mouth on to Arial's lips. Orange magic swept down in flames traveling through the girl's throat to the rest of her body. The fire monster slowly pulled away watching his lover's eye slowly open. Breaking into a fit of laughter, he pulls her into his chest tightly. She was alive.

"Grillbz" Arial choked, not sure what was going on. Her chest felt tingling warm and strange, somewhat empty at the same time. The head was lighter than usual, leaning deeper into the black fabric of the bartender's vest. Why was he laughing? The usually tiny voice that reinsures her about things, was not speaking. Tears welled up in her eye socket. She was lost for words on what to do; it felt like someone importation was taken away from her. A flame hand sizzle a bit as it softly dries the tears from her eye.

All around her she could hear the clinging glass and cheering filling the air, Arial's body was slowly lifted up into a sitting position. Her cheeks turn a deep pink, looking around to see every monster looking towards her direction. Her hands quickly wrap around her face, wishing to disappear from sight.

"You're Beautiful." It was the only words Grillby could think to say, after what he had done to her. He just forced Arial to be his soulmate, could be easily undone. The purple soul was still too weak from losing so much magic and it still was painfully cold. It was a good thing he was a fire monster which helped to conserve magic to warm the soul up. The purple soul beat against his chest, Arial slouch over, placing her head on the table. Grillby could feel the fear and anxiety beaming from the purple soul. "its alright." the fire monster spoke softly.

"Why were you…you laughing?" Arial asked feeling a tingling of warmth again inside her chest but also felt on the side of her cheek. A fire hand cupped the bottom of her chin as the girl's face pulled up to see the orange-red flame turn into a smile on his face. Without waiting for permission, he pulled her into a kiss. Everything felt like wobbly jello as her body melted into the passionate kiss. It only lasted for a second, but lips still warm as coldness brush against the skin, causing chill ran down her spine.

"True Love's First Kiss" Grillby answered watching her cheeks turn deep red, it was their second kiss, but he wasn't going to tell her that. The first one felt like such a cliché fairytale kiss that he had to steal another one to see what would happen. Adorably hot was the only description that trailed in his mind, wrapping his fingers around her waist. Both their souls were racing as his finger playful slid across the black sash keeping his soulmate's kimono top, closed. She had an odd appearance, but he found it breathtaking. All he could see was her face and hands. Ariel's face had a vertical and geometric shape, one side was just bone while the other side was covered in pale pinkish human flesh. He's never seen anything like that. One of his favorite parts, for now, was the purple iris eye; it's the same color as violet flowers and her soul. Deep down, he hoped that she felt the same way he did about her. With her consent, he could easily undo the black bow in the back to see more of her. Arial was still a minor, he promises for now that he would not pressure her into anything else against her will, maybe just a kiss, that was it. For now, he had to stay in control of his heat and focus on healing her soul.

"Ummmm….Gggggrrrriiiiiiillllllbbbbbbz …?"

"I think you broke sleeping beauty." Sans laughed, not taking his eyes off Grillby or Arial. It was a smart move the fire monster did. He couldn't help feeling a bit worried about their souls. If something went wrong, Grillby's hot body could have toasted the purple soul or Arial's wet insides could have smothered the orange fire soul. "Grillbz, don't you think the Princess, needs to take Donsoap?" he leaned over the table as his fingers glowed a slight blue color, flicking the flesh part of the girl's forehead.

"Ouch!" Arial cried before a tiny pill was popped into her mouth. It was used similarly to a shield for fire monsters to prevent their elemental bodies from burn things. Causing the fire to just feel like warm steam against the skin, without moisture. For Arial, it was being used as protection from the blazing heart, beating in her chest. "Why'd you do that?"

"You're a bonehead", Sans snapped, not forgetting the stupid stunt she pulled back in the forest. If she had died back there, how was he going to explain that to Papyrus? Sure, the short skeleton was an emotional wreck back in the forest, but all that had to be Gaster's emotions. Right? He was only protecting her because she is so dear to his little brother and Grillby, who was his brother-in-law now. The skeleton chuckled to himself, slipping out of the booth, and pulling out his cellphone to quickly text Undyne that Arial was alright and was with him. It was five o' clock, so there was plenty of time before the family dinner. He had spare time to raid the tavern kitchen for ketchup to re-fuel his magic. Pink slippers slid across the white flooring as he made his way to the fridge. A bony hand reached out and grasped the metal handle, laughing a bit; remember the time Grillby had seducingly pushed the skeleton against the fridge door. Those times were over; there were plenty of other monsters in the Underground. A strange bad feeling was starting to sink in, a monster which he had sex with was now a mate to one of his siblings. What would happen if she found out about them? It would be awkward, but he was sure Grillby would never tell, out of fear of losing her. So it should be alright. Why should he worry about the girl anyway? What he needed right now was to keep the Kid interested in this timeline as long as possible until he found more information about Gaster's research. Sans pulled away from his thoughts as he felt something tugging on his blue jacket. Speak of the devil. Looking down he could see Frisk standing next to him holding up a ketchup bottle, their eyes cast to the ground. "Do you have something to say, Kiddo?" The human didn't say a word as the bony hand grabbed the bottle from them. "I thought so….If you ever touch one of my siblings' souls again, I swear I'm going to dunk you right into hell…. I'm not kidding." the blue flamed up in his left eye socket for only a moment, returning back to the white dot. Both of them silently headed back to the others.

In the tavern dining area, Grillby had pushed back Arial's left sleeve finding the black burn marks decorated all over her arm, and then quickly pulled down the other sleeve to find scars on her bone. The flames behind his glasses turned a bit red, not appreciating the damage found imprinted on his soulmate's body. What did W.D Gaster do to his daughter? No, wonder she was scared of the skeleton brothers all these years. It seemed like something had changed between the siblings as he watched the short skeleton place his ketchup bottles on the table and slide into the booth. Ariel hasn't tried to run away. Something in the back of his mind was telling him to tug on the girl's ear lube to lighten up the mood a bit. A fire hand brushed back her raven hair, leaned down, and lightly bit and pulled on the ear.

A soft moan escaped Arial's lips, turning her head around quickly up at the fire monster, pulling her arms away from him. "Grillbz….I'm al...rig..ht.. It was a long time ago…Sans, help" Arial called out, wishing Grillby would give her some space, as she covered her ear. Her eyes went wide a bit noticing goosebumps on her arm. Did that arousal her?

"I'm Sorry, Princess," Sans said glaring at Grillby, watching the flame monster take one of the ketchup bottles and starting to drink it. He didn't care what those two did later, no way in hell he was going to watch them do lewd stuff in front of him. Was he being jealous already? He was positive that Arial was still a virgin; if the flame monster did decide to do the tango with her, not on his watch. Alphys would find out and tell Undyne, who would probably crack his skull with one of her spears for not protecting his sister from a wolf in heat. "I would Lava to help, but looks like you've met your match because he's got the hots for you."

Arial deeply sighed; for once she did not like her brother's bad puns. Why was he calling her princess? Did she look like a damsel in distress that needed…Her thought pulled away looking down to see that Grillby was pulling her sketchbook out of her bag, placing it in front of them, opening to a clean page. She watching in interested, as a flame hand draws an almond-shaped outline, inner circle, and dot in the center. Then moved on to draw a heart under the eyeball, and letter u. A deep pink blush spread across human-skeleton's face taking the pencil from him, wrote the number two. She was not sure where their relationship was going, but symbols on the page were embracing warmth to the soul. The kind of connection she had with Papyrus the other day, but stronger and different. This one made every fiber of her body tingled in pleasure. "Stop that", she told herself looking around to focus her mind on something else. Then she noticed the human child looking up at her with puppy dog eyes. She slipped off of Grillby's lap, positing herself next to him, and leaning down to pick up the child. "Grillbz…This is Frisk…They are new to the Underground…They are trying to get back home."

"Arilly." Frisk smile, hugging her, rubbing their face into her chest.

"I'm alright...I'm happy you're alright too." Arial smiled, hugging the child as she started brushing back their brunette hair. The child's hairs were so soft as it curled around one of her fingers. For a second, the brunette color turning into a black flame that curled around her finger. Her purple eye looked up at the fire monster then over to Sans, wondering if they were seeing what she was seeing. None of them seemed fazed a bit as both of the male monsters took another hit from their bottles. It must have been a trick of her mind, as sh lifted a hand up trying to make the top flames on Grillby's head curl around her fingers, nothing happens as her fingers felt like going through warm steam. Flames don't curl. She pouted a bit pressing her back into the cushion of the booth, wondering why her mind had conjured the image. "Don't you have to work, Grillbz?"

"Nope…Closing early….Once the storm goes away" Grillby answered, still not having the heart to tell Arial that she was carrying his soul. She would definitely find out if they were separated too far away from each other, their whole body would tense up or shut down completely .

"Then it's six for dinner, tonight?" Sans said, knowing perfectly well how the soulmate rituals went. He leaned back watching the three of them on the other side of the booth. The peacefulness was interrupted as something vibrated inside his winter jacket pocket. A bony hand reached inside and pulling out a cellphone displaying a text message from Undyne. The white lights in his eye socket widen as the skeleton read the text.

"Comic Sans Skeleton this is Alphys Dino. Thank you for saving my daughter and I hate to trouble you, but I need you bring Arial and Grillby Flames II to me. I know you told us not to worry and she's alright but she is part human, there's no telling what effect the fire soul may have on her body. She's still a child."

Sans groaned at the use of his first name. From the sound of the text, it was clear that Alphys knew about the soul swapping, but how? The skeleton looked around until he spotted a security camera behind him on the ceiling and another one hanging over the bar. In the last timeline, the reptilian science had hacked over a million cell phones warning them about a dangerous human. So it was no surprise to think this time she used her hacking ability to hack the traven's camera and probably many other cameras in the Underground. If Sans returned her home now, he could lose the chances get some of his questions answered. Why did mothers have to be so protective of their children?

"I would love to help you there, but the storm is still going on and I'm not sure if one of my shortcuts is the best thing right now. Arial's soul is still weak and I don't know the effect it would have on swapped souls…I could always come get you." Bony fingers texted out words before hitting the send button on the phone screen. It didn't take long for the phone to buzz again as he received another text from Alphys.

"Thank you. I will be in the main lobby"

The skeleton sighed as he stood up onto the booth cushions slipping the phone back in winter jacket as blue light shimmered around his body as it quickly disappeared into thin air before reappearing in the same spot with Alphys next to him holding onto a large black medical bag. The skeleton didn't bother with an introduction to the newcomer as he plopped back in the chair. A bony hand reached across the table, grabbing a fresh bottle of ketchup.

"ARIAL!" Alphys cried, hands tightly gripped around the bag wanting badly to leap over the table and hug her daughter. She kept her ground as eyes looked down at the small human child then back up at human-skeleton girl. The chubby yellow legs wobbled as the worried dino mother slowly slid down into a seated position next to Sans. Her mouth slightly opened, but quickly closed not sure what to say to the girl. It felt like her soul was doing summersaults exploding with mixed emotions of fury and happiness. "Al...A...arial, w...what were you thinking…If...f S...sans hadn't call Undyne…Y...you would have…and G..grillby d..didn't…"

"Mom, I'm alright…" Arial said softly carefully placing Frisk on the ground before slipping out of her side of the booth. "I didn't mean to scare you." She smiled, pulling Alphys into a hug while her bony hand lightly brushed the horns on top her head. "I'm safe…I'm still here mom…No one is going to take me away."

Grillby felt a little guilty as he watched the display in front of him. He knew that Arial had mentioned a few times she had a mother, but there was never any proof that woman existed until now. The purple soul dripped with sadness inside Grillby's fiery chest as he stood up and bowed slightly to his mother-in-law. "It's an honor to finally meet you, Miss?"

"Alphys Dino...It's nice to finally meet y...you in p...p...person." She sounded cross. "I saw w...what happened! I'm not s...sure how I feel about this y...yet. She's just a child. S...sans? Why didn't you bring her straight to me? Maybe I could have done something. She's my daughter." Alphys said wiping the tears out of her eyes. A fiery hand carefully reached out as a warm steamy kiss was placed delicacy on her hand. A light blush appeared across her cheeks while she softly mumbled to herself taken back by how charming and dashingly hot the fire monster was before her.

"Are you the Alphys Dino, the Royal Sciences?" Grillby asked returning to his seat watching as the reptile monster slightly nodded her head yes to his question. The flames on his head turned yellow as the fire monster was lost for words. He was mostly known to be cool-headed, but at this moment flames were twisting in worry. Sitting before him was a powerful authority figure and mother of his soulmate.

Alphys stood up motion for Arial to take a seat next to Sans before digging into the medical bag and pulling out monitors that attached to a metal band.

"Don't worry Grillbz...My mom's harmless." Arial smiled as Alphys wrapped the band covered in wires, around her head.

"Sweetie I need you stay put," Alphys demand slightly loosening the black obi around the girl's waist before slipping a metal disk under the clothing and placing it on her chest. "The reader can't check your heart and the soul if you're moving about …Mr. Grillby can I have words with you." She asked slightly glared over at the fiery monster.

The two older monsters pulled away from the group and headed to the bar leaving Sans alone with Arial and Frisk. It would have been easier summoning a soul out of the girl's chest for the checkup. Alphys was playing it safe and decided to use the soul wave monitor to get a reading on the fire soul. Looking down, he could see the white light going up and down on the screen as it made high pitched beeping noises. The reading seemed to be normal until out of nowhere the light started to skyrocket to the top of the screen and wouldn't come down. His eyes quickly looked up towards the bar to find the usually red-orange fire monster was now pale orange. "Looks like she's giving Grillby an earful." Sans started "I wonder what they are talking about?"

"It's rude to easy drop, Sans…" Arial remarked as her body leans over while a hand clung to her purple kimono top. The soul felt like it was dancing around in pure bliss, but at the same time, dripping with fear. Two bony hands carful reached around the back of the girl's head as Sans pulled off the headband. There was no need for any more testing. Whatever Alphys was saying to Grillby was affecting his emotion which in return was affecting Arial deeply and the results of the soul readings were useless.

Arial smiled softly before reaching into her massager bag to pull out three white plastic packages that looked similar to condiment packets.

"Are those ketchup packs?" Sans asked in puzzlement picking one up and flipping it over to find a sickly yellow substance inside.

"Nope, its honey…I can't stand ketchup." Arial answered before using her teeth to open one of the packs. Her body felt like it was on edge and weak after all the things that happened through the day. Right now she needed something sweet to calm the nerves and help replenish the magic.

"Too bad, because we have some ketching up to do." Sans chuckled placing the package with the rest of the honey. "Could you explain why the old man created you? The legend says it would have taken seven human souls and a monster soul to break the barrier. So then, why you?"

"Um…"

Sans groaned under his breath watching as the girl's eyes turned away from him, sucking on the package as if her life depended on it. The bony fingers scraped against the table causing the girl to shiver and tense up as the package fell out of her mouth. "You're not going tell me, are you?!" anger raged from the blue soul. "Look I want help you and kiddo, but can't if there are secrets between us." Sans sighed waiting for an argument to happen again like in the last timeline. Nothing happened.

"It's not that, Sans…I….It's hard to explain, but I can't remember everything… I feel like there are holes in my memory…If I push too deep I blackout or I get headaches." Her eyes lower more, casting down into a pit of sadness. Her hand slipped under the left sleeve as bony fingers started picking at the scars that decorated down that fleshy arm. Her mind slowing drifted into darkness as bones rattled under her clothing.

"Repressed memories?" Sans asked, grabbing hold of her bony hand. He really hated seeing her doing that to herself. Picking at scars was not going to make it go away. He had a nagging feeling there was a mix of truth and lies to the point she was trying to get across. In the last timeline, she had put up a fight to keep their father's secret. Not this time. Why? "What can you tell me?" he asked gently.

"Dr. Gaster used particle beams to shoot lasers to increase my magic. It worked. He had to stop after…" Arial bit the bottom of her lip feeling a dark aura of hurt and disappointment looming over her older brother. Talking about her creator was the last thing she wanted to do. It felt as if she were trying to keep quiet but Sans would just keep pushing her for information. She pulled her hand away and slightly moved away as her face came into contact with a lump white fabric. Without time to react her head was pulled into a hug as yellow fingers started to run across her back raven hair

"H…he almost radiated h…her brain." a tearful voice finished Arial's sentence. Alphys pulled the girl tighter against her chest causing the child to push back. In a quick motion, Arial pulled away gasping for air before a half smile spread across the human side of the girl's face. "S..s…sorry Sweetie." the motherly reptilian spoke softly with a weak sorrowful smile.

"You have a brain" the white light in San's eyes grow as fingers tap on the bar table. He was a little taken back at this new information. Ariel's body was still a mystery to him. He understood that she was both human and skeleton. Skeletons had no need for skin, muscles, or organs like humans. Both races did have bone and blood. Still, how did it all work, magic? Part of him was itching to find out how.

"She does and other human organs as well, like a lung and heart…" Alphys frowned as she looked at soul reader carelessly lying on the table and not hooked up to Arial. The information which was collected showed everything seemed stable, but for a few high readings that matched up to Grillby's reaction to their talk. "Which s...she needs to be more c..careful with…You may be half s…skeleton…I..It could K...K...Kill..." she started to snap at the girl, but held her tongue.

"Aunty…We are sorry." Frisk apologies as Arial stood up, scooping the human child into her arms, and took a seat next to Grillby. The fire monster wrapped his arm around, pulling the two more close to him. An adorable giggle escaped the human's lips as a fire hand ruffled up their brunette hair.

"I…I know, human…" Alphys said taking a seat again next to Sans with her eyes cast down. She rubbed her hands together a few times, trying to remove something unseen. Her hands stop fiddling as sadness loomed over the scientist as she stared at her own yellow scaly palms. "Guess y...you couldn't help it, Arial…. You are...Gaster's d...daughter after all. Willing to put o..one's life on the line even if means h..helping others…I shouldn't d..do this…" Alphys bit her lower lip before taking in a deep breath and releasing the air out of her lungs. "but I'm...still allowing y..you to go over to your b..brothers' as long as S…sans keeps an eye on you and k..keep you out of trouble…We will d...discuss all your p..punishments later" Her eyes scanned pass her daughter, the human, and the fire monster.

"I'm sure Prince charming will help too…" Sans joked. "Just let me know when you're ready to go back to the lab, Doc" He watched Alphys twiddle with her thumbs. He could see in the monster's eyes that she really didn't want to leave her daughter's side, not after what happened an hour ago. As soon as the storm stopped, they would need to head towards the Skeleton Brother's house. No way could she go with them. It didn't matter how many layers of fabric the dino monster put on. The cold would only send the reptile into hibernation causing the body shut down and go to sleep until she found warmth again. She was too large for any of them to carry her. Teleporting her to the house was another option, but he didn't want to bother with the offer. There were already three monsters he needed to keep am an eye on and protect them from the human. He didn't need another one to look after.

"Just wake me up when it's time." Sans chuckled as his eyes went black, listening to bits and pieces of conversation going on around him as he pretends to sleep. The memories of long ago started drifted into his mind, a time when they could call the human, a pal. Sitting at Grillby's enjoying burgers and french fries. Other times building a skele -snow in the snow with Papyrus. Watching the Kid try to make pasta in the kitchen with Undyne, almost resulting in a house fire. He laughed a bit to himself while playing an image of Frisk, Papyrus, and Undyne, covered head to toe in tomato sauce in his mind. Here was Sans, face to face across from Frisk again after hundreds of genocide runs, the human child, not the one he called a demon. The trust between them could never be fixed. Frisk had killed Papyrus and countless other monsters in other timelines too many times to count. Which left him with dark uneasiness each time it happened, what if it never resets again? A new nagging question, slipping into the back of his skull. Toriel had given Frisk a cellphone that displays the time, they knew when the blizzard was going to hit. So, why did they keep Arial far away from town, were they waiting for the blizzard? Maybe to get a reset or something else? The skeleton's bony finger pressed onto the bottle and slid it across the label, shredding it off. Seeing clearly now that Frisk was taking advantage of Arial's female nature, acting like a lost innocent child looking for compassion and safety. They smiled at her as they drew a picture with her in the sketchbook. Just like the skeleton brother's mother, Bel, Toriel, and Alphys; Arial slipped right into a protected motherly role with the kid. God dammit!


	20. Chapter 19

The burning smell of onion and garlic drifted in the air as the tiny kitchen was covered in a cloud of black smoke. Those with lungs would find the environment to be smothering and claustrophobic. It didn't bother a tall teenage skeleton, which was looking in the cabinets beside the oven, for spices. Instead of using ketchup as the base for tomato sauce, this time. Papyrus wanted to go by a recipe and follow it step by step. The only cookbook they had in the house was a boring book with very few pictures. There were no steps about crushing tomatoes to a pulp with your fist or catching boiling water on fire. He had taken a few cooking lesson with Undyne, but none of the steps in the book sounded like her cooking skills. Part of him wants to give up and make it the same way he always did, with ketchup. That would be kind of pointless to do when the fridge was already filled with containers of ketchup spaghetti. This was the Great Papyrus, he promised a special family dinner and that's what he was going to deliver.

In no time, the kitchen counter and floor were covered in tomato and spices. Papyrus groaned at the sight of the fourth batch of onions turning into black coal. He was sure he put the heat on medium and added olive oil to the skillet this time. A bony hand turned off the heat as the skillet was dumped into a brown sink that was almost as tall as the skeleton. The skillet sizzled at the touch of bubbly, nuke warm water splashing against it. There were only a few drawbacks, but he starting to lose hope with each new batch he tried to create.

A heavenly chiming echo through the house caused terror and panic in his orange soul as Papyrus looked over his should at a clock. It was only a little past six o'clock, plenty of time before guests show up. So who could be ringing the doorbell? Red boots skipped across the orange-tan colored checkerboard flooring while making his way to the living room. Praying with each step that it was just Sans coming home early from Grillby's.

The front door creaked open to find a black hooded creature standing in the blazing snow. Without asking who it was, the tall skeleton quickly reached out and pulled them inside, closing the door behind him. Guessing by the style of the robe it had to be his little sister. Why in the world would she be out during a blizzard? Maybe she was like her brothers and the cold didn't bother her. Standing next to the dark figure, he noticed they were the same height. He was sure standing next to Arial the other day; he was at least a foot taller than her. Looking down, he could see pink tip of heels peeking out from under all the black fabric.

"Sis…Can't you tell ti…" those words cut off as hood monster placed a white-gloved hand under Papyrus chin, focusing the skeleton into an electrifying kiss. He didn't fight back as the stranger's arms wrapped around his waist, leaving no gap between them. By now, that skeleton was sure this was not his sister, slowly pulling away from the kiss, tiny orange hearts beaming from his eye socket. There was only one monster that could take his breath away, his Shining Star. "Wowwie…Mettaton!"

"I know, Darling" The hooded figure giggled, slowly unzipping the robe. Peeking out from under it was his pink chest piece, a waist with two black parts that seem to act as a locking mechanism for the pink heart soul to float inside the core. It was a bit risky having one's soul out on display, but the Super Star didn't care. He wanted everyone to see how wonderfully rare his pink soul was and how it glimmered in the light, especially for one it shined the brightest for. "Now what's this about a sister...Don't tell me that lazy brother of yours was able to find a soulmate?" Mettaton asked, rolling his eyes, hoping deep down he misheard his sweetheart's words.

The tall skeleton let out a deep sigh of disappointment at letting the cat out the bag too soon. Papyrus' original plan was to keep his sister a secret until Mettaton could meet Arial in person. It was going to be a super cool surprise, too late now. Then again he could try to ignore the question, but he knew better than to try and keep secrets from someone, who loved to gossip. He could see the puzzled expression in the humanoid robot's eyes. He knew that his sweetheart never dragged his name in the mud with gossip, but Sans was a different story. Mettaton despised the older brother, always butting into their relationship and there had been a few claims by him that Sans threaten to kill him. Papyrus never believed a word of it. This was his brother they were talking about, overprotective, but not a killer. "Remember When I told you I was the Son of Great W.D Gaster Skeleton, The First Royal Scientist?" Papyrus beamed with excitement.

Mettaton was not sure where this conversion was going, but he was intrigued to listen. He couldn't help gigging a bit at how excitement beamed from his sweetheart's voice. "You did, Pappy..." Mettaton nodded his head, placing the robe on a hook located on the back of the front door.

"My Daddy is super cool, he created my little sister in a lab…You're going to love her. She's coming for…Then again I'm not sure there will be dinner." The skeleton's upbeat voice quickly turning monotone, slouched his posture while looking towards the smoky kitchen.

"Pappy dear, what's the matter?" Mettaton asked taking hold of the skeleton's gloved hand, confused at the sudden sadness. His robot body was converted with a mechanism that allowed him to have five senses just like a human. Most times he turned off smell and taste when he was with Papyrus knowing clearly well his lover was a horrible cook but didn't have the heart to tell him. The robots tiny black pupils widen at the sight of what the skeleton had been looking at. Gray smoke was drifting out of the kitchen into the living room. Fire? The robot panic as he raced to the kitchen pulling Papyrus along with him. "Oh, My!" were the only words that came out, the pink soul settled down while noticing there was no fire, but a sloppy mess. Next, to the stove, the counters covered in smashed tomato and onion peels, there were dishes piled high in the sink, red goop around the handle of the fridge, and some on flooring. Mettaton released Papyrus' hand to open up a window to help clear out some smoke that was clouding the kitchen. Looking over his shoulder, he could see an orange tear rolling down the side of his love's face. Knowing the fridge was always stocked with containers filled spaghetti, but he could see that tonight was very special to Papyrus. Serving leftovers would only be an insult to his feelings. Mettaton understood how importation family could be. He was a workaholic, busy with acting career and coming up with new programs every day, but if one of his ghost cousins, Alphys, or his sweetheart need him he would drop everything in a heartbeat. Yes, he was known to be narcissistic, but he was not a heartless monster. Right now his sweetheart needs him more than anything. After finding out there could be a third skeleton sibling, there was no way in hell tonight's dinner was going to be canceled, do to little misshape. Not on his watch. The only thing he hoped was this mystery female was more like his Papyrus than the no good lazy older skeleton brother. "Don't worry Darling, Your Shining Star is here and lucky for you, I'm a top chef…So let's get cooking!" A smile spread across his robotic face before placing his black lips on his sweetheart skull.

The soft kiss warmed the skeleton's soul. Papyrus nodded his head using his gloves to whip away the tears from his face. He was so lucky to have someone as amazing as Mettaton as his boyfriend. He watched for a moment as the older monster started to clean up the mess on the counters, trying to salvage any ingredients that could still be used. Papyrus started washing the floor and dishes while he waited for the Star to give him a world class cooking lesson.

After what felt like an hour of cleaning, Mettaton took hold of the skeleton's hand and lead him over to the kitchen counter. Laid out on the table were a cutting board, knife, onion, tomato, garlic, and jalapenos. A robotic hand careful removed red gloves off the skeleton's bony hands, before handing a knife to Papyrus. The older monster stood behind his lover placing their hands on top as they guide them on how to prep each vegetable for cooking. The orange heart in Papyrus' soul beat fast in excitement soaking in each step in detail. Unlike cooking lesson from Undyne, this one was calm and less vigorous. This was nothing like the "Killer Robot Cooking Show" which was over dramatic. Each step was carefully planned out, onions and garlic cooked golden brown, tomatoes roasted before being crushed into a blender. In a large pot the cooked ingredients, crushed jalapenos and spices add together and blended with love, filling the kitchen with the aroma of home-cooked spaghetti dinner.

"I knew you could do it, Darling…It smells divine …Just like you" Mettaton whispered leaning his face next to the skeleton's face, turning the oven heat onto the low setting. They still had half an hour left before the others showed up and the sauce still needs to simmer. After a cooking lesson, the chief wanted some payment. White gloves removed the red scarf wrapped around his lover's neck, letting the red fabric fall to the ground. Licking his metallic black lips at the sight of a lovely pure white neck bone. Lips lightly suck on one of the tender vertebrae causing the Skeleton to squirm. Soft pleasuring moans escaped Papyrus' mouth; a bony hand clung to the oven door, another hand still trying to stirring the pot. The robotic lips pulled away as Mettaton snickered to himself, watching the skeleton bones shivering in excitement.

"Mettaton…The pasta sauce." Papyrus cried, feeling something crawl up under his armored chest plate, around spine core, and inside the rib cage. The pure bliss of chill ran down the spinal cord as a smooth fabric texture started stroking the orange soul, softly. Red sauce splashed onto the side of the pot as he dropped the spoon into the pot, leaning his skull back into his lover's black shoulder guards. His mind was forgetting all about cooking as his bones thirst for the warmth of the other's soul.

"Don't worry Darling…" Mettaton smiled wrapping an arm around Papyrus hip, pulling him far away from the stove. The robot knew that his lover was still just a child, but didn't mean they couldn't make out. He just had to hold out for two more years, and then Sans would have to back off. That was their secret agreement. The older skeleton promised not to kill him if he left the younger one's virginity intact. Once Papyrus turned eighteen, Mettaton's plans were to make the cute little skeleton his soulmate and live together in Hotland. Right now this was all he could do, knowing perfectly well that he was driving his lover mad with each kiss that was placed on Papyrus' bony teeth, teasing him with light touches.

"Mettaton, Please!"

"Sorry…Pappy."

"I'm NoT…Neeeeee….A ChILD"

"Sweetheart."

Mettaton deeply sighted pulling his robotic arm out from under the skeleton's chest armor. He had gone too far. Orange hearts filled with lust burning from his lover's eye socket to keep going. The pink soul inside of him was also crying for more, but he just couldn't. Papyrus was his world and there was not a day that went by that he wished that they could push their relationship to the next level. They had been dating for three years, but lately felt like they had been dating for a century. The only thing that kept him from moving forward was Sans' threat to crush his soul. The old skeleton was lazy, but when it came to protecting Papyrus' innocents, there was no telling what the short skeleton would do. After having once tasted the power psychokinesis pressing on the ghostly pink soul, no way in hell he wanted to find out what would happen if he broke the promise. "Just two more years" he repeated to himself.

The burning excitement of skeleton's lover touch was gone, he wanted more, Papyrus shifted his body so their chest was facing each. He would just have change Mettaton's mind. A bony arm wrapped around the robot's neck while the other playfully slid down the metal chest until it stops in front of the core. The tip of the bone finger pressing on the core, expecting there to be zap, but nothing happened, his fingers pressed forward, edge deep side. A girlish moan escaped Mettaton lips, bony fingers gripping around the pink soul, slowly pulling out of his lover's body.

"PaPPy"

Papyrus giggled a bit at the cute pink blush spread across the pale human-like face and visible metal segments below the left eye of Mettaton. He didn't know why they always stop in the middle of making out, but he could see in his Shining Star's eyes that he wanted more as much as he did. Maybe he just had to show him he was not a child anymore. The bony hand quickly placed the heart into his mouth before it could be taken away. An orange ecto tongue had summoned, inside his mouth, pressed the heart against his teeth, licking up and down. Mettaton tossed his head back, crying in pleasure, wrapping both arms around the skeleton's neck to keep himself from crumbling to the floor. This was Papyrus first time soul-sucking, it scared him a bit watching Mettaton's body trembling and moans turned into cries. He learned from the internet soul-sucking was an intimate act done between lovers, but it could also be dangerous . What if he was hurting him? It was rude to take someone's soul without asking. He told himself to stop but kept going anyway. Dying to hear what other noises he could make the older monster make. If Mettaton was in pain, he would have told him to stop, right? Bony hand started to play with the rim of his lover's black spandex pants.

A heavenly chiming echo through the house caused both the monster to freeze up, cold chill washed over the room. Papyrus mumbling in disappointment looking over the shoulder at a clock displaying time, eight on the dot. The skeleton moved his head close to his lovers face, Mettaton opened his mouth, letting orange tongue press the pink soul into the robotic mouth. "Sorry about…"

"There is nothing to be sorry about, Darling… . I'm nuts and bolts about you too, Pappy.…" Mettaton giggled watching the orange heart in his lover's eyes turning into tiny orange flames, grinning his teeth. "Calm down, Love. You're going to destroy that dashing smile of yours. Doesn't the Great Papyrus have other guests to entertain?" he smirked wrapping the red scarf around his lover's neck.

Papyrus nods his head taking hold of his lover's hand, jogging out of the kitchen into the living room. A bony hand reached out to grab the doorknob, turning, slight opening, but it was quickly pulled back closed. He tries again, and the same thing happened again. On the other side of the door, he could hear male voice chuckle and hushing noise. A loud thug bang against the door.

"Knock…Knock"

"SANS…I not in the mood for one of your jokes."

"Knock…Knock"

"SANS…LET GO OF THE DOOR KNOB...NOW!"

"Knock…Knock"

"who's there?"

"Carrie!"

"Carrie who?"

"Carrie me in, my feet are tired!"

Papyrus grumble feeling the grip on the other side released, making it easy to open the door. "SANS…You're such a sack of laz….S..sis…G..g..grillbz?" his yelling quickly quite down noticing the older skeleton brother was not alone. Pleased to see siblings and friends, but he was puzzled why the fire monster and someone else's tiny features were hard to see in the darkness of the cold clear night sky. Didn't he make it clear this morning it was a family dinner? Then again, Grillby's father did foster the skeleton brothers after a mysterious disappearance from their father. Which kind of made the fire monster their older brother. It would be rude for him to turn them away, the more the merrier. Papyrus pulled Arial into a hug. Hoping to feel the connection they felt yesterday. Nothing was there, just a normal hug. He couldn't feel her emotions. Looking down he could see she was confused and puzzled by this as much as he was.

A red flame spread across the fire monster watching the two younger skeleton siblings hug. It was nice knowing that all the monsters he cared about were finally getting long. A chill went down Grillby as a gust of wind blew at the tip of his flamed hair. The cold usually didn't bother him, seemed without fire soul, his body was weak against winter weather. Walking towards the door, place a fiery hand on Papyrus' shoulder patting few times. "It's nice to see you, Papyrus… Have you gr…" his words were cut off as a bony hand grabbed him by the wrist.

"Why do you have it?" Papyrus growled, feeling the purple soul beaming from the fire monster.

"What are you talking about?" Grillby asked, feeling a cold fury coming from the other male monster.

"Ariel's soul!"

"Paps…Cool it…Wait how could you tell?" Sans asked. He looked at Frisk and noticed he was shivering. Not sure if Frisk was cold or afraid of Papyrus. This was the third time a dark aura took over the younger male skeleton. The eyes became pitch black, waiting for a battle to start. Wondering if he should take hold of Papyrus' soul or see where this was going. "Stay with me, Kid."

"I just can." Papyrus snapped and hug Arial tighter, orange eyes blazing down onto Grillby. Not noticing dark pink eyes glaring from behind him.

"PAPPY...Darling, you're letting the cold in! Can't you see you're scaring the poor dears?!" Mettaton snapped pulling on the back of the skeleton's red scarf. He did not like the tone Papyrus was using. It almost reminded him too much of Sans' brotherly protection. A robotic arm slithered under the skeleton's body armor, an ungloved hand poked the orange heart. Papyrus yelped as a surge of electricity shocked his soul a few times. It was not enough to damage it, but just the right amount to cause him lose the grip on Grillby and Arial. Crumbling backward into Mettaton's arm. The robot kept a tight hold on the scarf while looking over the skeleton's shoulder to take a good look at the group standing outside the house. It was an odd group. A fire monster wearing a heavy coat taking on the cold weather like a champ , ducking out from behind Sans was a child that appeared to be a human, who took hold of a bony hand that seemed to belong to a girl part human and skeleton monster. "So you must be the little sister, I'm guessing then this sexy hot stuff is your mate…What adorable child, both of you have." smiling while tugging hard on the red scarf as if Papyrus was a misbehaved dog on a leash.

The human-skeleton girl's head darted back and forward between all male monsters in disbelief. She couldn't believe the words had slipped out their mouths. Placing hands on her chest, summoning the heart soul from within the body. The purple eye widened in shock as orange flames sweeping in between her fingers. She liked Grillby a lot, but was not ready to make this kind of leap in their relationship. The waves of regret and love were seeping out of her soul. She didn't know what do, this was the first time she was holding a soul that's not her own. It was making her feel scared and lost on what to do.

"Arial I can explain...You were dying and I couldn't lose you. So I swap souls so I could heal your heart… If you want I can undo…Just give me few more hours with it...I never intended to upset you." A hint of sad brittleness was revealed in Grillby's voice, placing flame hands under his girlfriend's hand. Helping her guide the fire soul back into her chest, before leading her inside into the semi-warm living room,

"How romantic…We need to give those two some space" Mettaton smiled holding on to the scarf, dragging Papyrus into the kitchen. Behind them, he could hear another set of footsteps, unlike his sweetheart's this one dragging and sliding across the floor.

"Mettaton!"

"Don't Mettaton, Me darling…You're being …I don't want to hear any stupid pun out of you, Sans." Mettaton snapped pointing a wood spoon at the short skeleton then at the taller skeleton. "Papyrus, you're starting to act the same way Sans treats our relationship. If I remember correctly a long time ago you told me Grillby was your childhood friend and a great guy...and your little sister out there you just meet not too long ago. You have no right to butt into her love life…" the robot remarked while stirring the sauce, looking over to the side to see Papyrus was near the sink filling a pot with water. "You need to trust both of them and respect whatever decision they make…Do you understand, Pappy?" deeply sighing, feeling a little bad for coming down so hard on his lover.

"Someone is whipped." Sans laugh, leaning against the wall, placing hands into his jacket.

"No I'm not…I'm the Great Papyrus!" the taller brother yelled placing the pot on the stove next to one filled with tomato sauce.

"Sure you are Darling…I'm the Star here, so I overrule you, dear…Now finish cooking dinner." Mettaton giggled a bit, placing a light kiss on the skeleton's forehead. It was hard to stay completely mad. Not when Papyrus was so hot and adorable wearing the pink apron that said: "kiss the Great Papyrus".

"If your magic was as strong as your bark I would be in trouble." Sans chuckled walking beside the robot, both of them headed back into the living room leaving the taller one alone with his thoughts. Papyrus sighs looking down into the pot of red pasta sauce. Mettaton had a point, but he couldn't help it. He just wanted to protect his little sister.

"Big brother?"

Papyrus turned his head to find Arial standing in the doorway, smiling sweetly at him, her bony hand fiddling with a long strand of black hair. The orange soul was mixed with the feeling of glee and guilt. Waving her to come closer, but she shook her head no. Forgetting for a moment that those who swap souls had a limitation on how far they could walk away from their soulmate. "Can you help pass this out? " He asked handing her two plates. Something tugged on his scarf, looking down to see a little human smiling up at him.

"Human?!"

"Papyrus, this is Frisk…I'm helping them get home."

"That's not fair I wanted to capture a human!…How did you do it?! I knew I should have gone to work today! Now I will never get into the Royal Guards!…Now I will never be Popular!" He slumps over in disappointment.

"You're already the Great Papyrus...A super cool brother, a boyfriend of a Super Star, Puzzle Master, Chef, and the kindest monster I have ever met. Just give it time, Big Brother I'm sure everyone in the world is going to love you."

"Neeeh…I'm great…So are you, little sister."

"No…I'm not."

"Yes, you are. You're the daughter of two Royal Scientists, a talented artist, able to make friend with a human, you capture the heart of fire monster, and….you're not a bad fighter. Little more practice and you could win against Undyne next time…I could train you."

"No thank you, Papyrus…Mom doesn't like it when I fight…Dinner?" Arial sighed, leaning down, and holding out a plate for Frisk to take. All three of them walked out carrying enough food for everyone to eat. In the living room, Grillby sat in the middle of the couch with Mettaton and Sans sitting on each side of him. The fire monster took a plate from her, quickly hands it to Sans, patting his lap for the girl to take a seat on him. Papyrus took a seat in front of Mettaton on the floor and Frisk sat next to him, extra plate next to them. After a few bits, everyone opened up talking about food, anime, television, riddles, books, music, and even few puns were tossed around. After dinner, Mettaton collected the dishes and placed them in the sink while Papyrus ran up the stairs and came back to the living room with a computer chair.

"Pappy, What are you doing?" Mettaton asked returning to the living to find Papyrus and Frisk spinning round and round in the chair.

"Human seems to like it," Papyrus laughed,

"Papyrus, that's enough…Frisk come here…You're going to upset your tummies if you keep doing that…" Arial demanded, patting the empty cushion on the couch next to her and Grillby. The human child nods their head, jumping off the Papyrus' lap, pulled themselves up onto the cushion. Rubs their eyes, and leaning their head against Grillby. After a long walk in the snow, drawing with Arial at Grillby's, and a tummy full of yummy pasta, and spinning in the chair, the little one was getting drowsy. A fire hand lightly pets the child's brunette hair until they were in a deep sleep. Arial giggled to herself looking down at child then back at Grillby. She found it adorable, it almost seemed like they were a family. The smile quickly depleted, remembering tomorrow she would have to take the child to the capital, to the king…to their death. Everything around her became a blurry mess of gray and white swirls and a cold breeze nibbled at her cheek. Her body hunched over noticing her hands and dress were covered in gray dust and blood. Trembling in fear, trying to rise but felt heavy as unforce bind her to spot. High pitched screaming started echoing around her. There was so much gray dust that it was hard to tell where anything was. Looking in front of her, revealed a black silhouette of a child running towards her being cashed by a tall shadow creature carrying an ax, and had glowing red eyes. Arial tried to look away, but couldn't peel away as she watched the child slip and fall to the ground. The shadow creature was looming over them, raising the ax in the air. Purple tears ran down her face, crying for someone to make it all stop and help the poor child.

"Darling, are you alright?"

"Sis?"

"Hey Princess can you hear us?"

"Arial, calm down it's not real."

Arial's left eye was cloudy white as her right socket flared out orange flames. A chilling screech filled the air as the girl screamed at the top of her lungs. No matter how many times they called out to her, she didn't respond to them. Grillby wrapped his arm around her waist and another grab hold of her hand trying to focus it back down. "Sans, there's a black pouch in her bag. Get it. Hurry!"

The skeleton nodded his head quickly, digging through the massager bag, and Tossing out anything that didn't fit the description of the pouch. Only looking up for a second to notice the girl's right hand sparking orange. It looked like she was trying to using fire magic, but the body couldn't comprehend how to use the foreign magic. A chill ran down Sans' spine, not sure why he was looking for the pouch. When he finally found it, his eyes widened to find an epiPen, inside. It was filled with a dark purple liquid, and it almost looked completely black when not shimmering in the light. He remembered seeing his father use an epipen on patients a few times during allergy season. It was never this color. A bony hand held the pen firmly while removing the blue safety cap on the top then pulled it straight up. Tossing the cap to the side before pushing Arial's black skirt up, revealing the fleshy thigh. Sans swings the epipen and pushes the orange tip firmly into the mid-outer thigh, holding it there until he heard a clicking sound. He looked up to hear Arial muffle a word, "Adara ", before passing out in Grillby's arms. "What was that sh…." Sans quickly held his tongue, seeing Frisk wide awake looking at him from the other side of the couch.

"I'm not sure how to explain it…Sans," Grillby started, "you need to trust me. When Arial wakes up we all need to act like none of this happened…questioning her about it may send her into another panic attack. We only had one pen." Grillby explained wiping the tears away from his soulmate's face.

"Should we call Alphys?" Papyrus asked picking up the other items Sans had tossed out of the bag.

"No…It should be fine…" Grillby said, placing a hand over Arial and his chests to summon both of their souls. It was time to return the souls to their rightful owner. It was painful to let go of his soulmate, but she was still a child and something told him it had to be done. They were still a couple, but maybe someday they could try again. It seemed longer the purple soul away more nightmares were sure to follow and torment the girl until nothing was left of her, except despair and madness. The orange soul floats back into his chest. A fire hand carefully cupped Arial's chin opening her mouth to place the purple soul inside and close it. "I love you." He whispered, kissing her softly on the lips, hope whatever caused her heartache would disappear and never return.

Sans nod his head and held out Arial's bag so Papyrus could put all the items back inside. Ariel's reaction was another thing to add to list of question he was dying to ask her. Then there was Frisk, their eyes cast down, Guilt could be seen in the soft baby brown eyes. Sans had a feeling that the Kid probably had an idea as to what "Adara ", meant. It kind of sounded like a…could it be a name? He tapped his finger on the armrest, irritated by all the unanswered questions. He couldn't do a damn thing. If he tries using magic to force it out of Frisk, it could cause another reset. If he went after Arial, Papyrus, and Grillby would get in the way. No way in hell he was going to be labeled as a brother killer. Then there was that one percent never again be another reset. He couldn't live with himself in a world where he caused his little brother pain. Tomorrow, after Arial and Frisk leave the house, would be the best chances to strike, now that the girl was not bond to Grillby.

Arial slowly opened her eyes to find everyone looking at her. Her head was hurting and everything was hazy. A comforting warmth beamed from her chest washing doubt and fear that lingered in her mind. The last thing she could remember was looking down at sleeping Frisk, who was now wide wake smiling up at her. Did she blackout again? "Grillby when you gave me back my heart…I thought you want…" a flame finger was placed on her lips, she watched the movement of the flames on top her lover's head.

"Sis."

"That's right…I almost forgot…Papyrus you asked me to draw both of you…I need both of you to sit in the computer chair." Arial smiled clapping her hands together, before digging into her bag and pulling out a sketchbook. She held out a tiny one for Frisk to take, but the little one shook their head, rubbed their eyes and lay back against Grillby. A bony hand reached out to grab the tiny sketchbook. "Do you want to draw, Sans?" She asked, while lightly sketching out the construction of Papyrus and Mettaton's body into geometric shapes, over time it was replaced with hard lines to resemble a male skeleton hugging a humanoid male robot.

"No thanks. I'm more ink-eresting in your sketches" Sans said leaning into the couch flipping through the tiny sketchbook finding quick sketches of the Underground. He was hoping to find some information seeing how artist are known to pour their emotion, passion, dreams, and dark secrets into their work. Nothing special, it was more like a diary of places visited and object. His fingers stopped as white light in his eye socket, grew wider. In pencil, was an unfinished drawing of a faceless little girl wearing a bunny hoodie holding something in her arms. There was only an outline of a large circle with oval shape under it. Doll…baby? Top of the pages was symbols similar to the ones that his father had used. Next page was a faceless girl holding hands with a little human-skeleton girl, symbols again, but different from ones on the last page. "Ariel…What are this symbols?" he asked, tapping on the open page.

 **✌l✋👍e** **✌n👎** **✌r✋✌l** **💧✋💧❄er💧 f** **o** **re✞er**

Arial pulled away from drawing and looked down to see what Sans was asking about. "I'm not sure what it says … It's some kind of font…I really don't remember." She answered; try to remember why she had written those letters. She remembers setting on creator's lap from time to time watching him type reports. Playing with the keyboard, after that she couldn't recall the font she had used. It was frustrating, she was sure at the time it was drawn, that it made sense. The memory of it was gone, leaving a tiny migraine. Light warm kiss placed on top of her forehead causing the throbbing pain to disappear. Her cheeks turned a light pink color, looking up slightly to see Grillby looking down at her. "I'm alright…not tired yet…I knew it was late, but I wanted to finish drawing for them… Grillbz." She giggled as the fire monster leaned down brushing flames against the side of her human face.

"Wowwie….Are you psychic, Sis?" Papyrus asked

"She was reading his flames Pappy…" Mettaton started "I see a lot of fire monster use flames to talk to each other in Hotland. Sometimes with interracial couples, a non-fire monster is able to read a lover's flame... Kind of like how I'm able to read your feelings and emotions when your eyes glow." Mettaton nuzzled his face into the soft fabric of the red scarf. "It is getting late, Dear."

Papyrus placed an arm around the robot's back and another arm under his bend knees. His sweetheart was right, and Stars needs their beauty rest. All male monsters had work or school in the morning. Mettaton smiled nuzzling deeper into the scarf, gently wrapped arms around Papyrus' shoulders for support. Fuzzy warm feelings blooming in the orange soul, he carefully raised the body up, holding tightly to the other male monster. The red boots slowly walked across the carpet towards the stairs.

"Where are you two, going?!" Sans snapped looking up from the tiny sketchbook to noticed Papyrus half up the steps.

"Don't worry your pretty little head, Sans, dear." Mettaton devilish smirked at him, before turning his full attention to the handsomely tall skeleton carrying him like a bride. Leaning up a bit to place a quick kiss on his teeth.

"Good night, brother!"

Sans groaned, sinking himself deep into the couch. His bones were too tired to argue anymore. He was sure Papyrus wouldn't try to do anything lewd in the house with a child and their baby sister sleeping under the same roof. What to do with the other two lover birds. Arial would be too shy to try, but Grillby…there's no telling what that fire monster would do if they were left alone. Sans didn't trust himself to be alone with either of them. "You three can take my bed…" he offered knowing Frisk would sleep between them, keeping them out of trouble by killing the mood.

"Are you sure, Sans?"

"I'm bone tired, Ariel…I don't have the muscles to move an inch…It's not right to make a fragile Princesse sleep on the couch when there is a lovely warm mattress up the stairs." he said handing the tiny book back to Arial, before placing his bony hands into winter jacket. Looking over to see she was frowning at him, mouth slightly open to speak, but a flame hand cupped her chin, carefully closing her mouth shut, Grillby leans over and whispered something in her ear. Pink blush spread across the human side of the girl's face, raising her to her feet, and placing all her items into the message bag. Grillby reached over careful picking up sleeping child with one hand while the other took hold of Arial's hand, leading all of them up the stairs, into Sans' room.

The short skeleton sat alone on the couch taking in the quietness of the living room. If Sans was concerned enough he could listen to whispers that were sinking through the cracked door of Papyrus' room. Knowing the younger skeleton, he would probably have Mettaton read to him. It's childish to request for a bedtime story at his age, but it's the only way to get Papyrus' restless brain to stop thinking and fall asleep. It was a habit the younger brother picked up from their father. Sans chuckled to himself remembering waking up as a child in the morning to find books and empty bottles of ketchup scattered all over the living room floor and their father spread out on the couch with a book covering his face. A bottle clutched in one of his hands. Soon, Sans drifted over long forgotten memories of their father. Building a giant snowman, riding on their father's gaster, gem gazing in Waterfall, and eating pasta with him. A family. Each one brought a bit of happiness to his blue soul, as the white lights in Sans' eyes fade away into a pleasant sleep of darkness.


	21. Chapter 20

_A blue soul was floating in the silent pitch darkness. A dreamless, peaceful sleep that any soul would wish to get lost in, never wanting to return to the world of reality. Sadly all dreams come to an end, eyesight started to come into focus as the sound of muffled voices filled the air. The body was awake, but the eyes were still captured in complete darkness. There was something heavy spread across the face. It had a silky smooth surface that resembled the texture of paper. Sans' soul tries to command his hands to move the object out of the way, nothing happened, not even a bone rattled. It felt like his skeletal body was being held down against his will. His mind pleading for help, no one could hear the silent scream from within. The muffled out voices become clear as he started tuning in on each word being spoken._

 _"Bel, it has almost been three years…The Royal Guard's NOT the same without my best Pal to spare with." a high pitch female voice spoke with a bit of sadness and bitterness behind each of her words._

" _Urd…I told you many times… I can't..." Bel snapped as a sound of something smacked against a hard flat surface. "Not after…I just… cannot trust them anymore…"_

 _"I'm sorry Bel…I'm sure King Fluffybuns and Queen Tori had no hand in the death of the hum….your daughter...They love kids. You can't blame them for taking the soul when it was offered to them. It's one of the keys to our freedom….After the baby is born…Don't you want to send two little ones to the best daycare and preschool in the Underground…A royal job is the highest paying jobs" Urd said trying to hide the fear in her voice._

 _"I know all this. I just…wish…I could have at least got to…see her one last time…We never…had a chance to…say g..g…good bye..." Bel's voice cracked. Neither female monster spoke for a few moments; the only sound was tiny soft sobs. "I plan on being a stay at home mother…Seeing that there will be three little baby bones to take care of." she deeply sighed._

 _"WHAT!?" Urd shouted in excitement at the top of her lungs causing things to shake._

" _Urd…Hush… Sanssy is taking a nap. We want to keep it a surprise for him. Turns out the tiny soul must have been like Gaster's, but then split into two…Twins!"_

 _"Twin baby bones…Undyne is going to be so excited that she's not going to be a godmother to one, but two! What gender are they?" Urd asked in excitement._

 _Puzzlement and confusion started eating away at the blue soul as Sans tried to process everything being said. Twins? If it's been three years then that meant little Sans was three years old. There was only a three-year gap between the skeleton brothers. So that would mean one unborn soul had to be Papyrus. Which would mean his little brother was originally a twin. Then what happened to the other twin? Could this have been the other secret that was kept from the skeleton brothers, growing up? The darkness slowly lifted as a bony hand removed the object blinding the eyes._

 _Orange-blue soul was in a distressed and irritated state with talking females. The body raised into a sitting position, Sans noticing was looking through Gaster's eyes again Placed a book on the coffee table then turned slightly to see over the couch. A female skeleton wearing a blue dress and red scarf was sitting at a tiny round wooden dining table, His loving mate Bel. Across from his soulmate was a fish monster that looked exactly like Undyne wearing body armor, but instead of red hair it was long white-slivery hair pulled back into a braid. On the table was an electric teapot, basket of cookies, mustard bottle, ketchup bottle, honey bottle, and two teacups for each of them. "We'd rather you not tell anyone…BEL… I told you not to tell anyone." he grumbled, gripping the armrest._

 _"I thought you were asleep Wingding…What's wrong telling others?…"Urd asked smirking at Bel, before turning on the teapot._

 _"Don't call me that. I hate that name…Bel, I explain to you many times. The soul slipped because it was getting rid of the weaker magical trait. When they're born, the weaker one will…" Gaster stopped speaking feeling a cold aura looming from another side of the room._

 _Dark purple lights beamed from Bel as she glaring angrily at her soulmate to hush his words. "Gaster, everything should be fine." She snapped, grabbing the honey bottle and pouring all of it's contains into a teacup before moving onto the condiment bottles. "With our magic and your knowledge of science, Everything will turn out fine…I have faith you will not let anything bad happen to them." Pouring boiling water over strange concoction and stirring until became sickly red-brown color. The female skeleton was most fond of mustard and only tolerated ketchup due to the males in her life, her pregnancy cravings were ketchup and sweets more than usual. "We will not know their gender until they are born. I have a feeling it's a boy and a girl." Bel giggled, taking a sip of the bitter-sweet drink._

" _You're just being a worry wart, Wingding…" Urd started "This isn't the dark ages anymore…Anything is possible. So what names did you pick out, Bel?" Urd asked looking up towards the ceiling, trying not to watch her pal drink the gross tea as she slowly nibbled away at a cookie._

 _A soft purple glow appeared in Bel's eye socket as she slowly started petting the top her baby bump. It was a small lump, but enough to tell something was there besides bones. "Papyrus and Arial" her voice was a softly sweet, loving whisper. "My two little baby bones."_

 _Sans watched through his father's eyes as he turned away from the two female monsters. Hands were shaking a bit, picking up a book and flipped through the pages. It was pointless to argue with them. Pushing the subject would only upset his soulmate, causing her stress would not be good for the unborn souls. Part of him also didn't want to deal with any negative mood swings that would lead to magical bones being tossed at his skull. He stopped on a page with a short paragraph explaining the rare formation of skeleton twins. Every word was discouraging to the orange-blue soul, no new facts he already didn't know. Gaster deeply sighed, placing the book back on the coffee table, stood up walked over to his mate, placing a soft kiss on top of the skull. Bel giggled, holding up the honey bottle "I need to get to the laboratory… I'll make sure to get more honey for you, dear…No magic!" he demanded, looking down at her baby bump._

 _"I know…I need to conserve magic so the tiny souls can grow." the purple orbs rolls around in Bel's eyes socket. "Saranghaeyo" she whispered sweetly, tiny heart formed in her eyes._

" _I love you too," Gaster said, waving goodbye at the two female monsters, a stream of orange-blue light covered his eyesight. In a blink of the eye, the bright lights fade away into darkness. A bony hand retched out into pitch blackness, sliding across a smooth surface. The hand stopped moving as the tips of phalanges pushed down on a bumpy surface; causing a dim fluorescent light cast overhead. It's a large white room, tile floor covered with wires and tubes of different size and shapes, all leading to the center of the room. A lite tapping sound could be heard as the body moved side to side, being careful not to trip over the wiring or tubing. Passing by the operating table, making his way to a computer hooked up to large dark cylindrical vessels filled with dark green liquid. It was hard seen into, but Sans could make a silhouette of small creature floating within the container. The blue soul jumped as the light flicker inside the capsule, coming face to face with a creature the size of a toddler, wearing an oxygen mask. Long red hair floating upwards in liquid and around their fleshy pink human face. It was a child with hollowed out eyes, just pitch blackness. The chest and torso were human, but genitals were missing from the pelvic reign. Both the arms and legs were nothing but bone; bits of flesh were fused into the bone to keep its limbs from falling off._

 _Gaster turned on the computer, quickly looking through files and charts which were all in the strange symbolic font. The only thing Sans could comprehend is research notes on the human-skeleton sleeping in the tank. The computer mouse pulled up a program that looked similar to a music audio player but had a record button, the mouse scrolled and clicked on it._

 _"Oct 16 X, 15:00…Seems no responses of motion from subject One even after being injected with determination, I have collected from Royal Family human child, Chara Dreemurr this morning, at 5:00. My only hypothesis is to obtain more determination or the soul-trait belong to the human child…" Gaster paused, looking away from the screen, a hand reached out to find a tiny framed photo of a little human girl with half blackened face wearing a rabbit hoodie, hugging a little skel-baby dressed in a blue onesie. The bony fingers lightly brushed over the children's faces. "Alice... Seeing it was…her DNA…used for the project. Sadly…no leads to what that may be. In the last three years, the body has grown to the size of a toddler." Placing the photo back down, he turned his attention back to the screen. "Getting nutrition through a feeding tube and some magic from Bel Dugaegol Skeleton and myself, W.D. Gaster Skeleton. Monster children expected to be weaned off their parents' magic coming to the age of three years old. Next step is to take Subject One off life support and magic, to see if the body can function on its own…End file." Gaster clicking stop recording button, let out a deep sigh. Pushing a red button, looking up to see green liquid slowly drain from the container. Tired bones leaned back into a chair, raising his left bony hands up to his face, looking through the huge hole, dead center of the hand, right at the human-skeleton child. Orange-blue soul hopes and pray for the creature to move soon, proving that not just lump wasted years of DNA kept live by foolish mad science._

 _The bony hand disappeared from view as is attention went towards the computer only to be blinded by the white brightness of the screen. In the back of his mind, Sans could hear the sound of high pitch beeping over and over. The paces between beeps quickly slowed down until nothing, but flat silence dead tone. Without warning the blue soul was swept up in a whirl of bitterness and fury. Sounds of crashing and screaming filling the room, the tiny glass screen monitor was violently smashed with a sharp bone. The skeleton bones shudder in anger, the weight of his body crumbled to his knees. Hands cracked a bit as bones smash into the hard flooring, tiny few drops of blood staining the white tiles._

 _"Gaster", a voice echo into the room, heavy footsteps races over to Gaster. Arms reached out pulling the heartbroken, shambled monster into a loving embrace. A calming aura surrounded the orange-blue soul unraveled some of the negative feelings of despair the was drenching the heart. Gaster deeply sighs, undoing the arms around him, standing up, and turned to face his soulmate. His bony hand brushes the side of Bel's face, cherishing the tiny purple heart that floated in her eye socket. A soft humming melody filled the air as the male skeleton lead over to the computer chair._

 _Blue soul felt at peace, humming quickly turned into songs. Every word sounded like a heavenly voice washing away the nightmares of the world. Bring back loving memories of Sans curling up in his mother's lap falling asleep. He could feel the song was having the same effect on his father, the skeleton bones relaxed in the chair. Arms wrap around her waist beckoning her to stay with him, Bel shakes her head side to side, pulling away. He watched as the female skeleton became quiet and walked over to the operating table._

" _Oh my god…The poor dear." Bel gasped covering her mouth, taking a few steps back from the table, she turned her head slightly to look back at her mate._

 _Gaster stood up, placing a hand over his lover's eye, wishing that he could make all this disappeared. It was the last thing he wanted an expected mother to see. Spread out on the operating table was a tiny creature, skin white as snow. The face collapsing into the center, blood dripped down the tear ducks. Their body was stiff as a board; bones were slowly crumbling into ashy dust. It was nothing, but an armless, legless, puddle of skin and guts. "I don't understand, it had a heart and everything a human needs to live…I even injected it with magic…Our blood helped to support its monster half, but..."_

 _"Maybe what it really needed was a soul?", Bel said as purple tears rolled down the side of her cheekbone, removing Gaster's hands away from her eyes, she looks down at her left hand for a moment at a large hole that was dead center in the palm. She carefully places her hand on the dead child's forehead; while another hand complete still in tack was placed on blue dress covering the baby bump. Gaster senses the troubling fear looming in his soulmate's soul. Her hands trembled as Gaster lightly pat her stomach. "I'm sure you did your best…It will be alright…" pulling the red scarf over her head like a hood."You're working yourself down to the bone…You're just bone tired."_

 _A calming orange light beamed from Gaster's right eye, hand wrapped around his soulmate, and the other pushed up the fabric of her dress. Exposing the midsection of her body, revealing a purple glowing ectoplasmic belly. Floating within was two objects. Gaster deeply sighs, noticing one soul in shape of a heart while other was a tiny little ball. There is less than a month left until the babies were expected to be born. "I have lots of work." He careful pat her ecto belly, a bit of orange magic slipped from his soul into the womb for the little souls to feed off of. "Do you want me to quickly transport to Waterfall and pick up Sans from Alex and Urd's?"_

 _Bel shakes her head no, before leaning in for a quick skeleton kiss. Taking a few steps back, she undid the folds of her blue dress, smoothing it out. She does her best not to make eye connect with the dust remains on the operation table. "Don't worry, I can handle it….I could use the exercise…I promised Undyne a cooking lesson today anyway…I'M THE MAGNIFICENT, Aunty Bel, after all." her voice seemed to be in a loud chipper mood, but Gaster could still feel uneasiness in her soul. Even the soft giggles that slipped from her mouth, fell short of the sweet or humor. "Saranghaeyo." Speaking in a low voice as she heads towards the door._

 _Gaster groaned under his breath, listening to sound of boots tapping against tile flooring slowly disappeared from earshot. "I love you, too," Gaster said, gripping the edge of the operation table. Orange-blue soul trying to find the strength not to break everything in the laboratory, into a million pieces. What was the point of being called a Royal Sciences if he couldn't find a way to break the barrier or find a solution to help the unborn twins? Maybe Bel was right, his mind just needed some rest and a break from the laboratory to clear the head._

 _Without warning, the image twisted and turned as colors swirled into each other, becoming a black pool of nothingness. Sans dreaded the next vision, darkness was interpreted as chiming noises filled the air. Bones rattle as Gaster's body shifted in its sleep, trying to ignore the ring that wouldn't stop buzzing. A hand retched out and felt around a smooth wooden surface, grabbing onto a tiny object that was vibrating. In his hands laid a flip phone, opening it up to find Bel's name appearing on the screen._

 _"Hello?" he yawned, placing the phone against his cheekbone. No pleasant greeting as the phone was filled with the screaming of a baby crying and muffled voice yelling in the background. Time felt like it stopped, orange-blue soul panicked in fear, screaming Bel's name over and over._

" _Uncle…Gas?" a tiny female voice spoke, choking back sobs._

 _"Undyne?…Where's Bel?"_

 _"I can't find mom or dad. Aunty Bel…Stop crying Punk. I tried to get help….I don't know what to do…She started dripping purple stuff and it's crowded…Really Hot...It's getting hard to breathe."_

 _"Clam down, Undyne …Where are you?"_

" _In your lab…WATCH FUCKER! Please stop cry…Ugh, help…Where are you, Uncle Gas?"_

 _Within the second, Gaster teleported into the Royal Laboratory to find it covered in a sea of soaking wet monsters. The skeleton paid no mind to the cry of voices pleading for help. His bones trembled as he pushed through the crowd. Screaming "Undyne and Bel?!" over and over again, like a broken record player stuck on repeat. No sign of Bel or Sans. Orange-blue soul-drenched with fear with each step taken. Everything around him was unknown blurry blobs latch on to his lab coat, begging for him to look at their wounds. Gaster snarled, not caring if the wounded was at death's door. All that mattered was his family's safety. There was no choice but to wiggle out of the coat, his left eye illuminated blue as Gaster took hold of any soul that dare get in his way. Using enough magical psychokinesis toss them to the side, without causing damage to their soul or body._

" _UNCLE GAS!"_

 _In the distance, he could see a small blue scaly face, pop out from the crowd. Her arms waving in the air like a mad woman. In a blink of an eye, Gaster teleported in front of a young teenage water monster, leaning over to pick up a skeleton toddler setting on the ground next to his beloved soulmate. The children appeared to be fine, but for the water dripping from their muddy clothing._

 _Blue soul became overwhelmed with anxiety, Sans screamed for the rest of the vision not to play out. Part of his soul was being pulled into a dark suppressed memory of his childhood that happened in Waterfall. Tiny Sans was jumping into mud puddles over and over. Hearing the soft sound his mother giggling, tightly holding onto his tiny bony hand. Their enjoyment washed away, loud explosions echo through the cavern. A pack of screaming monsters came out of nowhere. Looking down, Sans could see water building up underneath him, before being swept up into his mother's arms. The cave was starting to crumble and the water was fierce chasing them. His mother turned to face the danger, eyes glowing purple, and summoning bones to block the water's path. It's useless as the bones cracked from the pressure of the water. She didn't give up summoning more bones, running with Sans in her arms. Out of nowhere, blockage made out blue spears was summoned in front of her magical bones. In front of her was Alex and Urd screaming for everyone to evacuate to Hotland. A devastated Undyne was standing next to her parents before she was swept up by a few unknown monsters and pulled along with the hysteria. Sans' mother was shoved side to side by another monster, before slipping on wet mud and rocks. Screaming in pain as her body tripped forward, she was penetrated into large sharp rocks. The sound of crying was mixing with the sound of her groaning in pain. A bony hand started dripping with purple-red liquid was placed on the side of Sans' cheekbone, as his mother calmly tried to hush him to stop crying. A soothing aura eloped him, the rest of the memory fade away to the sounds of rattling bones as adult bony hand pressed a button on a keypad…Seven…Two…Six….Seven. A creaking noise echoed through the metal walls as unseen cables were being stretched out. Standing in one place, a sinking sensation washed over his body. He looked down at a female skeleton, cracks in the eye sockets, growing across the face._

" _I...I'm s…so…rry…" Bel groaned in pain leaning her head deep into the black fabric of Gaster's sweater. Purple orbs beamed brightly up at her soulmate, with her hand covered in purple ectoplasm places over dark stain that was soaked across the blue dress._

 _"Please don't talk Bel," Gaster begged, the orange-blue soul was tossed in a state of petrified horror. He was not sure what had happened in Waterfall. Something sharp had punched the ecto belly; the wound was a threat to the unborn souls. The female was using every last ounce of her magic trying to keep them alive. Part of him wanted to scream for her to stop and conserve the magic for herself, but the rest of him couldn't bear the loss of another child._

 _Metal doors opened as he rushed out of the elevator, tightly holding onto Bel. The place was cast in a dark dim green light, the skeleton raced down a long hallway. Tiny footsteps could be heard following close behind him and the soft sound of a baby whimpering. The skeleton stopped in front of a door, placed a hand on a keypad, and unlocking clicking noises could be heard. Turning around quickly, he saw Undyne holding a tiny Sans in her arms. Her two yellow eyes filled with fear and worry. Gaster placed a hand on her blue cheeks, softly brushing the scales. "Please wait out here, little ones…It will be alright", He calmly lied to the child, before slipping into the room and locking the door._

 _The blue soul was loathing every moment, Sans watched as his mother was carefully placed on an examination table that was lightly covered in gray dust. Gaster pushed up the end of the wet dress until the ecto womb was in plain sight. A small orange light was flashing in between the crack on the purple surface. It was too late to attempt closing the opening, dust covered in bit purple speck light floated in front of the eyes. The bones were starting to crumble. Sans watched in horror as the knife was placed on the belly, the room filled with agonizing cries of a female. It didn't stop, the tip of the blade slowly sliced it open, careful not to hurt the tiny souls within. Normally when skele-soul were ready to be born, it would float out of the womb, with help from their parent's magic to take on a solid form. In this situation, the souls were premature being forced out. Gaster's hand slipped inside the womb and cupped a hand around the larger soul._

 _There was a tiny scratch on the orange heart as it started twitching and shaking in his hand being brought up to eye level. Another hand cupped over the other, surrounding the tiny soul, orange-blue magic glowed around the hand. Pressing and demand the soul to take monster form. Warm orange-white light spread around the hands, heart quickly released. White light spin around the soul, tiny bones appeared out of thin air taking on a shape of a baby skeleton. "It's a boy….Just one more to go, Bel. Hold on" He said, looking down to see his soulmate holding up her red scarf._

 _The skeletons nodded his head taking the scarf from her and wrapping it around the tiny infant that was the size of his hand. Stopping for a second, he noticed tiny scratches on one of the little one's vertebrae, a weak spot in the neck. No time to waste checking for other imperfections. Orange-blue soul tremble , placing baby on the floor before returning to his soulmate. The room filled once again with her cries, hand cupped the tiny little ball, slowly pulling it out of the womb. It was a tiny ball of purple light no bigger than the white orbs that float in Sans' eyes. Orange-blue magic swirled around spark, but nothing happens. It was still beaming with purple magic. The soul's magic was too weak to become a fully formed skeleton._

" _G…ga…ster…r?" Bel called, hand retched out to try to find her soulmate. Chunks of bone crumbled around her eyes socket, falling into large crevasses. Cold darkness was all she could see now._

 _"She's alright." Lying between his teeth, he held the tiny purple spark in one hand while the other took hold of Bel's right hand. Why did all females he loved dearly, left him in the end? It wouldn't be long until the tiny purple light started to fade too. Broken tears of orange-blue streamed down his cheekbone, he leaned over his beloved's face. Softly clinking their teeth together, sharing, loving, and heart sobbing final skeleton kiss. "Don't worry Bel. I'll make sure to look after the twins." Feeling the warmth of her soul slowly disappeared out of existence, his hand was tight with her hand still in his grasp, orange magic sweeping around it, protecting it from decaying into dust. He couldn't give up yet; Bel was gone, but the tiny spark, no purple soul beating brightly. The last of his beloved soulmate's magic._

 _Sans watched his father walk over to the computer area, pushing buttons, then looking up to see a large empty cylindrical container being filled with green liquid. Dipping the test tube into the liquid, Gaster placed the very tiny soul inside and sealing it up with a stopper. The light swirled around the tube like a fish trapped in an unfitting tank. Dark aura looming around it, fear and anger. The thought was pulled away, the room filled with high shirking of a baby crying. Gaster walked towards the child, leaned over, and picking him up. Little baby bone cooed, causing the light in the tube to return its usual color. A warm calming aura beaming from the two little souls._

" _Papyrus, I need you look after her…Daddy has…Some work to do." He said tucking the tube into folds of the red scarf. Holding the bundle close to his chest, he walked around looking for something for the little ones to rest in. Didn't take long for him to find an empty cardboard box and place them inside. The orange-blue heartbroken soul found it interested and delightful to watch the soft light enjoyment shimmered from the two souls. Sadly there was work to do if he was going keep his promise to his soulmate. No time to waste as the skeleton walked away from them._

 _The female skeleton's hand was placed into a tiny meat grinder. Orange-blue soul fell into despair as he turned the handle. The lovely female bone and once had the power to summon magical bone to destroy countless enemies but at the same time warm cooling magic that clam the soul. Not anymore. Air filled with the echoing sound of bones cracking and snapping into two as white powder poured out of a barrel into a bowl. The only solution he came up with was recreated the same process he did for Subject One. The only difference would be adding a soul. The bone-grinding stopped as a bony hand reached into a drawer pulling out a metal pen like object and sharpie marker. The objects placed in pants pocket while walking over to operation table. Metal cuffs clasped around the right bony before another hand pulled out a marker, black circle traced in the center of the trapped hand. The orange-blue trembling in fear as the left hand put away the marker, pulling out a metal pen. The tip pressed against the bone, drilling buzzing hummed from the pen. Small white-blue flames flared from the tip. Room was filled groans and screams as a hot light cut deep into the bone._

" _Sanssy …Wake up…It's not real!"_

 _The short skeleton body twisted and ached in pain. Tips of the fingers scrapped against his right hand. Screaming in agony, pleading over and over to make the burning stop. Unknown arms reached around him pulling him into a hug as a soft warm calming light spread across his body. Slowly white orbs started to appear in the black darkness of his eye socket. Blue tears streamed down the cheekbone, Sans placed his arms around unknown creature pulling them onto his lap. Burying his face in their clothing. A smooth hand tenderly glides across the top of his skull, sending waves of calming aura down to the blue soul. The tired skeleton slowly looked up at the creature he was clinging onto for dear life. The room was cast in darkness, the only thing he could see were two purple orbs looking down at him, blue soul floating in their bony hand. "Ariel…What are…" A finger was placed on his mouth, hushing the skeleton to stay quiet._

 _"It alright…Sis is here….I promise you no more nightmares tonight…I'm sorry Sanssy, I should have realized sooner."_

 _A soft melody filled the air causing the skeleton's body to go limp, falling deep into the embrace of the hug. Sans tries to speak, couldn't form any words as the mind became hazy. A tiny voice inside his head was telling him to go to sleep. His skull felt lightheaded and weak nudged way into the other monster's shoulder bone. Purple magic swirled around the blue soul, heavenly singing washing all his anxious, fear, and sadness away from him. Leaving only a fluffy feeling of happiness as his soul drifted into a peace-loving sleep._

 ** _(( OOC: Thank you to my readers are still here. A special treat I did a Grillby & Arial drawing. You can find the image by _**_**google grilrial_by_kupcakekitty-dc1zsjx or visiting K**_ ** _upcakekitty on DeviantArt. Go to the gallery then the Fanart folder. Thank you again._** _ **))**_


	22. Chapter 21

The blue soul drifted in and out the pleasant delusion of slumber, filling it with pure happiness. Tiny whispers filled the air as the short skeleton rolled over on the couch, trying to block out the noise. Seemed no matter how much sleep he gained, it was never enough sleep. Sans has always suffered from anemia caused by being born with a Low Hit Point. The genocide timelines and his father's memory had also put a strain on his blue soul and magic. At that moment, it felt like his bones were at rest and floating on cloud nine. Pushing deeper into the fabric of the cushion while tugging on the side of his winter jacket as if were a short blanket that wouldn't cover the body completely. The skeleton couldn't get back to sleep. The mumbling voices and noises wouldn't let up. A groan escaped San's mouth as he slipped his feet into his pink fuzzy slippers, before walking across the blue-purple zig zag chevron carpet heading towards the kitchen.

A sweet smell of yeast and sounds of clinging dish drifted from the tiny kitchen. An orange-yellow fire monster stood in front of the stove flipping a pancake in the air as the short skeleton walked passed him. Sans chuckled to himself, remembering his foster father, Grillby Senior would always cook thin round pancakes for breakfast for them when they were younger. It also brought back sentimental longing for the pancakes his mother used to make, covered in sticky red ketchup syrup. That fond memory washed away, quickly, replaced with agonizing pain in the center of his right hand. The hallucination only lasted for a second, but it was enough to make him morn in the loss of his mother, who gave up her magic, life, and everything to save the twins.

The blue soul sunk deeper in the depth of grief. The bright white light disappeared from the short skeleton's eye socket. Standing before Sans, in front the sink was Papyrus and Arial locked in a pleasant conversation while washing and drying the dishes. Unaware of the other monster's presence as Sans' bony arm warped around each of the young skeleton siblings, pulling them into a tight backward hug. His round skull buried between the fabrics of their clothing, trying not sob too loud for both of them to hear.

"Brother!"

"Sans!"

The short skeleton didn't speak, desperately trying to hide negative emotions. After last night's nightmarish ordeal, part of Sans wanted to be done with the anguish visions. It's still hard to believe that young female before him, could be Papyrus' twin sister and not some experiment cooked up in the Secret Laboratory. It would explain why the younger brother was protective of her. If that were true, why was she hidden away from her brothers? He needed more information. The thought of dabbling in more of Gaster's memories made his bones rattle with fear.

"BROTHER!"

"SANS!"

"Sorry to crepe up on both of you. Didn't mean to flatten the mood. I could go for some puncakes right about now." Sans chuckled, white light orbs came back into view, looking up at the two startled monsters.

"Holy Crepe, Sans, I thought you were going to flip on us…I guess…" Ariel sighed.

"NOOOOOOO! Please stop it, too early in the morning for this!" Papyrus demanded, his orange orbs glared down at the short skeleton, before turning onto the female next to him. Both of his hands were gripping the side of a plate watching as their sister's mouth slightly open to speak again. "ARIEL DON'T….don't encourage HIM!"

"Alright, We'll let eggo for now." Sans snickered looking up with a proud wide grin plastered on his face. Slipping his hands into his jacket and twirled around in the slippers. Behind him, he could hear something snap in two as the younger brother screamed in frustration. He had cracked the plate in two and hurled the pieces at the pun masters. The short skeleton didn't want to say it, but Papyrus had a bit of a point, it was too early for a full-on punning spree. The blue soul didn't have the heart to keep going as he heads towards the kitchen doorway only to smack into a hard surface. A clinging noise echoed inside his skull as Sans started losing balance and step back to see a black and pink metal in front of his face.

"We're back, darlings!" A pleasant robotic voice boomed with excitement, but his black eyes were glaring down at the short skeleton. A brown paper shopping bag was stuffed into Sans' arms as Mettaton made his way to a grumbling taller skeleton. The metal arm wrapped around Papyrus' waist, pulling him into a tender kiss. "I'm sorry about taking so long, Pappy…" pulling away as a finger traced down the side of the skeleton's cheekbone."The little dear wanted to buy something for Arial." The robot smiled, looking over his shoulder towards the doorway.

A little human slowly stepped into the kitchen with an unsure expression on their face, stopping in front the short skeleton. Sans could see Frisk's hand trembling, holding onto a white flat round object in their hands. Their eyes were cast on the floor, softly biting their bottom lip. There was a gloomy aura drifting around both of them. The skeleton could see something was up, but the kid was too scared to speak. There was only one guess; the demon child had something dark planed up their sleeve. Sans chuckled as he hands the grocery bag over to Grillby before pulling up his hood over the skull. Turning to the side, he leans close to Frisk's face, as he placed a bony hand on the back of the kid's stripe shirt. Hidden from view was a blue orb glowing from his left eye socket, pondering if he should kill the kid now or wait for the demon child to strike. The blue soul was in no condition to watch other family members die. The chance of Papyrus being dusted again was too great. Blue magic swirled around his bony hand. It quickly disappears, noticing Frisk's eyes were closed as a sweet angelic smile spread across their face. Did the kid want Sans to make the first move? What were they up, a reset or something else? Were they testing him to see if he was a cold-hearted demon like them? Sans groaned while lightly pushing the kid forward. "Go on, Kiddo."

Frisk nod their head, skipping up to Arial happily, and held their hands up in the air presenting something. The girl giggled, leaning over as his tiny hands slipped the flat object over her black raven hair until it rests over the human-skeleton's face. "Thank you, Frisk." She spoke in a muffled voice pulling the child into a hug.

"Sis!" Papyrus huffed, at the human child's gift to his sister. Covering Arial's face was a round white mask with a cartoony skeleton skull. The eye sockets were cut out so you could see Arial's left purple iris looking back. The mask's fake smirk felt like it was mocking the permanent one on Sans' face. The tall skeleton pulled away from his lover as he placed his hands on the side of the mask. "There's no reason to hide." moving the mask to the side revealing a deep red blush on the side of the girl's fleshy face.

"Paps, let it go," Sans said looking over at the fire monster's flames which were changing shape and different shades of orange, yellow. It didn't take a genius to known that Grillby was giving off embarrassing signals to Arial with the use of fire magic. "It's the same reasons I wear a jacket with hood and you wear a scarf." Sans stated."…When we feel overwhelmed with emotions we like to try hiding from the world…We got it from Mom…." he sighed, noticing his younger brother's hand lightly touching the red scarf around his neck.

There was a dark, lonely, and creepy silence in the room as the skeleton brothers cast their eyes to the ground. Each one lost in their own thought. The mention of their mother had always been a touchy subject, especially for Papyrus. "I'm sorry." He mumbled under his breath.

"Pancakes!" Grillby's voice beamed out of nowhere, holding up a plate of stacked cakes drenched with sticky red syrup in front of Papyrus and Mettaton. A warm pleasant heat beamed from the fire monster. The robot took the offered food as the grabbed his boyfriend's hand, carefully leading Papyrus into the living room to eat.

"Thanks, Grillbz," Sans spoke in a low voice, while his feet slid across the floor, heading towards the refrigerator.

"No problem. We are family after all." Grillby said placing pancakes on a plate and covering it with maple syrup. In the background, he could hear the refrigerator open and clanking of bottles hitting each other. A flame hand tightly gripped the plate took hold of the puzzled Arial's hand. "Don't overdo it." He said before leaving the room, knowing perfectly well the short skeleton was looking for alcohol.

Sans didn't reply, grabbing a bottle filled with a bittersweet drink that would numb some feelings that were aching in his soul. He didn't bother to close the refrigerator, leaning back against its cold shelving. Fluorescent light casting over the back of the blue winter jacket and shoulders. A Bony hand twisted the cap off of the bottle of Blood Mary, holding up to his teeth, but stopped. In front of him was a set of soft brown eyes staring at him, judging him. "Do you want some, Kiddo? Your soul got to be old enough now." He joked, holding the bottle out for the child to take. Frisk shakes their head side to side, no.

"Do you like Arial, like Pappy?"

"No!"

Sans could see a bit of sadness in the child's eyes at his answer as they turned away and headed towards the living room. How was the short skeleton expected to put trust into someone that he only met in a few timelines? It was kind of hard do that after being backstabbed by a human he once called a friend and cared about. For all he knows, that purple twin soul died a long time ago and Arial could be nothing, but an untrusting creature. She hadn't done anything wrong yet, but time would only tell. He grumbled as he picked himself off the floor and tossing the empty bottle into a trash can, slamming the refrigerator door closed. In the distance, he could hear laughter as he walked into the living room. Papyrus and Frisk were sitting on the floor with eyes glued to the TV screen watching four cartoon turtles eating pizza. On the couch, Arial was sitting between Grillby's legs; flip through her phone while Mettaton leaned over to see what was on her screen. Sans took a seat next to his brother, as the taller one wrapped an arm around him. A warmth safe aura washed over him, leaning a little more into the embrace as his head slowly slumped into Pap's lap. It quickly ended as the skeleton jolted awake as his head was placed on rough carpet. There was a soft whisper as the sound of wind blowing into the house. Shifting his bones slightly, Sans could see Grillby was standing in the front doorway leaning over placing a kiss on Arial's lips then patting Frisk on the head before shutting the door behind him. The short skeleton went back to sleep guessing it was time for Grillby to open up the tavern for the day. Moments later, Sans woke to the sight of Papyrus hugged Arial and Frisk, before disappearing behind the door holding hands with a hooded monster, probably Mettaton secretly escorting the young skeleton to school. He quickly went back to sleep again only to be jolted awake remember he needs to follow Arial and Frisk.

Without another thought, Sans scrambled to his feet as blue light illuminated him. In a flash, he was standing in the center of town as he looked back and forward between two paths that led out of Snowdin. Wondering which way would a monster without transportation power would take. If Arial was determined to break the barrier, then the best choice would be to skip Waterfall and head straight to Hotland. In a flash, Sans was standing near the river bank as he spotted the two sitting on the boat with the ferryman.

Arial was speaking quietly to the River Person while searching through the contents of her bag. There was sadness in her eyes as a trembling hand was brought to the hooded creature. Nuzzled in the palm of her hand were three silver coins being offered to the River Person. They wouldn't take it, gesturing her hand away while the other hand pointed over to the side of the boat. She froze in surprise discovering a short skeleton standing in the snow. Arial quickly stuffs the coins back into her bag before slipping the skull mask over her face, turning her full attention towards Sans. "S…sans…What are…you doing here?" There was a tone of fear in the muffled voice as she spoke as she fidgets nervously with the straps on her bag.

"There's something I wanted to ask Alphys. I'm too tired to take a shortcut." Sans paused, noticing Frisk's eyes were cast on a wood board of the boat. Their tiny hand gripping onto the side Arial's black skirt. He could sense unwelcome fear blooming from the two of them. "You don't mind me tagging along, do you…Princess?"

"I don't mind" Arial lied nervously looking up at the River Person then back at Sans. Her purple sleeves wrapped around the human child's waist as the girl pulled them close to her chest. The purple heart started beating fast against the chest after feeling something brush hairs on top her head. A deep humming noise echoes into her ear telling her to stay quiet. In the corner of the eye, she could see yellow orbs glowing within the darkness of the River person's hood before he pulled away. The dark hooded figure chuckled as he leaned over, bowing down to Sans. Puzzlement was glowing from Sans' orbs.

"It's an honor to meet you, Comic Sans Skeleton…Tra la la. The waters are wild today…Hotland?"

The bones rattled at the sound of hearing a gravelly male voice beaming from within the darkness of the monster's hood. The boat wobbled a bit as the short skeleton stepped on board. There was something familiar about that voice, but Sans couldn't recall where he heard it before. It was the first time in his life he was using the riverboat to get around. So why did this monster cause anxiety in the blue soul as he eased himself down gently on to the wooden seat next to Arial and the kid? The River Person pushed an oar against the snow edge, as the boat slowly started to move down the river. Sans watched as the morning light bounced off the white snow became dim as the boat entered into a dark blue-blackness of a cave. He could hear the ferryman ranting from the other end of the boat, but words were muffled out by loud dipping sound of water. The skeleton grasped the edge of the wooden seat as his bones started to tense each time the water splashing against the boat. The blue heart pounded in the ribcage as the last moment spent with his mother washing over the soul.

"Sanssy…its alright." a child's voice whispered in the darkness as Frisk slip into his lap, tiny arms hug the skeleton. Sans leaned over a bit wrapping his arms around them, letting their kindness and warmth destroy the uneasiness within the heart. They softly hummed to a wordless song as they rubbed their cheeks into the fabric of the other's clothing, taking in the sweet smell of ketchup.

The rest of the boat ride was a short silent trip as they all sat in the darkness with only their thought to keep them company. The light in Sans' eye happily lit up as some of the darkness in the cave disappeared. Glowing red sticks embed in a black craven wall, brightening the space around them as the boat came to complete stop. The skeleton watched as Arial carefully picked up Frisk and placed them on the ground before hoisting herself off the boat. She turned around holding a hand out for Sans, the skeleton took the offer and was lifted out of the boat. In front of them was a long rocky staircase leading upwards. The skeleton chuckled to himself as he placed his hands into his jacket pockets. Wishing that Papyrus was here to carry him up the steps.

"Ariel…Could you…ummmm…Car.."

Those words cut off as a large shadow cast over his own shadow. Dark aura loomed around Sans as something grabs the back of the jacket pulling him a few steps back. The sound of static buzzed around his head as the lights that hung on the wall, faded away. A bony hand reached out in front of him trying desperately to grab onto the end of Arial's bow on the back of her dress, only end up grabbing nothing, but air.

"Beware, those that harbor two souls…. Tra...la...la"

His bones rattled as the flashback of a gun covered in yellow light. His body came crashing to his knees splashing into a pile of gray ash. Sans looked down to find a hole carved in the center of his hands as red liquid dripped from it. His head slowly turns to look over the shoulder to see a stream of yellow light as the boat disappeared from the river. Quickly, he was tossed into an emotional whirlpool of sadness and rage as loud screams filled the cavern wall. Orange-blue light beamed from the chest as blue light flared from Sans' left eye. His fingers clawed at the rocky ground try to get his mind under control as images of the past mixed with the reality of the present.

"SANSSY!"

The short skeleton gasped in pain titling up to see two tiny blurry figures standing on the rocky steps. Bloodlust flowed from one of their eyes as they snickered under their breath. The eyes appeared to be hollowed out as trails black goop oozed from their sockets while a twisted black demotic smile spread across the face. Their dark red soul glowing brightly, itching with excitement with every scream that left Sans' mouth. The skeleton rolled onto his back gripping at the cotton shirt, heavily breathing as he summoned his soul, one-fourth of it was covered in orange lumps. Painful discomfort was too much to take. His bony hand penetrated into his own heart. A painful moan escaping each time he pushed hard, causing the soul to lose its heart shape. A drop of blue magic dripped down the hand like blood, seeping from small open wounds.

"STOP!"

A tiny voice called out from the darkness, a child shaped shadow figure with bunny ears hovered over the skeleton. Their tiny hand reached out, cupping the infected blue soul. Purple magic swirled around their hands. The tiny finger was tugging at the orange lumps, causing both to scream in agony and pain. The creature wouldn't let up as the skeleton's vision become nothing but a mess of blurry darkness and chilling cries. The tiny voice begged him not give up over and over until the sound of their voice was nothing, but a silent pitch of stillness. Sans' soul quickly shocked awake at the sound of angry voices auguring to each. His mind was a bit hazy as he tries to recall how he got here. The sound of medical equipment surrounded him as nothing else came to mind as bones felt the puffiness of the mattress. An IV bag filled with green liquid pumped into a thin long tube. Eyes traced along the tubing leading to the floor, bed, and under the bottom of his cotton shirt. Carefully, Sans lifted up the neck collar and found the ends of the cord latched to the blue soul. He was shocked to find that most of the orange lumps had been reduced by half its size on blue soul. Now there were tiny dark burn marks that were slowly being healed by green magic sweeping from the tube that's lacked to the heart. Who did this to him? He wondered as he turned towards the voices in the room with him.

"Calm down, Alphy…The Punk was just trying to help." A deep female voice said clammily.

"B…oth of you are in so much d… d..deep trouble… Wh…at w..were you thinking. Going to the R.. ruins and almost kill…ing…N…now this." A soft female voice yelled, shuddering every once in while with her words.

"I couldn't let Sanssy kill himself…Why didn't you tell me about the Astral Heart?" A third female spoke in hush bitter voice.

The white orbs disappeared from the eye sockets as Sans slowly shifted, turning to the side. Eyesight was a little weak without light floating in the skull, but he couldn't afford to let the others realize that he was fully awake. One of them was a chubby yellow reptile wearing a lab coat over a lacy pink nightgown nervously biting her nails. Wrapped around her was a blue buff arm of a redheaded, water monster. In front of them was an angry human-skeleton wearing a purple-black dress with a human child standing in the midst of the argument.

"I…I…I just want to p…protect both of you." Alphys mumbled, tears forming behind her tiny glass. She placed a trembling hand on the side of Arial's face as she pets the fleshy side of the girl's face, with her thumb. Hoping the child would forgive her.

"You're not my mother, Alphys. So stop acting like you're, her!" human-skeleton girl snapped, both eyes flaring a purple glow, pushing the chubby reptile away from her. "My siblings are all the family I have left." She remarked grabbing hold of Frisk's arm,

There was a tension of darkens in the room as Sans lay in the hospital bed speechless at the girl's words. Was the kindness she expressed towards the older monsters, all an act? He could feel dark magic swirling around her while she drags the human child behind her with a skeleton mask in the other hand while heading towards the door. Bony fingers pressed deep into the fabric of Frisk's sleeves. Not caring about the discomfort they were in as they yelped in pain.

In a flash, Undyne grabbed the human-skeleton by the shoulder as other hand smacked the girl across the face, pulling Frisk away from her. Anger beamed from her fishy yellow eye. She didn't like the tone the teenager was expressing towards the other female monsters. "That's no way to talk to Alphy…real Daughter or not…You need to respect your elders, Kid!" Undyne yelled. "Alphy put her job and life on the line to protect both of you."

"Don't touch me…You don't know what it's like!…" the teenage girl yelled, glaring at the water monster while yanking on the human child's arm. Frisk whimpered under their breath as the girl pulled them closer to her.

"You're right; I don't know what's going on in that soul of yours." Undyne snarled, taking a few steps. Her eye widened in disgust and horror noticing blood dripping down the left side of the teenage girl's lips. Lightly biting the bottom her lips, Undyne turns her head slightly away from the girl for a moment. A deep sigh escaped as her yellow eye cast down staring at her own sharp dark blue nails. "I don't understand this timeline stuff…. We are trying….Kiddo."

Those words sent a rage of anger through the male skeleton as Sans dug the tip of his fingers deep into the hospital mattress. That little bitch, human-skeleton knows about the timelines. No wonder she was able to stay out of sight during all of the resets. It would explain how she knew about Flowey. He wouldn't put it past her if she was working with the child demon, too. Those with a connection to humanity could never be trusted. Part of him wanted to leap off the bed, grab the freak, and the kid by their souls, and toss both of them into the nearest wall. Twist and break every bone until they squeal like little pigs. Comic was his first name and loved a good prank, but playing with other's lives was not a laughing matter. He was sick of these games and being played like the fool. Burning red fury burned in his soul, but Sans forced himself to stay put as he listened and waited for the right time to butt in.

"What's the point of explaining everything….You're all going to forget it anyway...I'm tired of this!" the human-skeleton girl snapped, tears of anger streamed down the side of her cheeks. Frisk hummed softly as they pat the hand gripping their arm tightly. A deep purple glare of her eyes hushed the child up, quickly.

"You said as l….long as no o…one k…k….k…killed the human….We are safe…Right?" Alphys was trying to make herself sound reassuring while slowly walking over to the children. Trying her best not to cry as a half-hearted smile spread across her face. Pulling a tissue out of her robe pocket, she reaching up to wipe the blood from her daughter's lips. Only to have the offered helping hand, pushed away.

"Come on Punk…Smile a bit…. Alphy is a Super Nerd. We just have to protect the human until we can seal up their powers. Everything will be alright." Undyne said trying to lighten up the mood with a sorry expression in her eye. Doing her best not to yell or stick the kid again. Reminding herself this was not one of her training cadets or Royal Guard members. This was a very upset teenage girl, who was kind of similar to her at that age. Angry at the world for taking her parents away and trying so hard not to fall apart.

"What if they go genocide?"

"Then I just beat the kid up… I'm Undyne the Undying." Undyne smirked showing off her sharp teeth while trying to look scary as she stared down at the human child. Frisk quickly looked away as they mumbled something under their breath before taking refuge behind Arial's legs.

Arial grumbled as she slipped the skeleton mask on before leaning over to whisper to Frisk, who was burring their face into the fabrics of her black skirt. Their head slightly nods, pulling away looking up at the girl then towards the direction of the bed. Then mouthing the words "farewell".

"W…where are y..you going,?" Alphys asked, noticing the children were heading towards the door again. Her eyes lowered a bit as her head turned towards Undyne for help.

"Take the little freak to the Fucking King…So we can all finally get our happy ending." The human-skeleton girl spoke in a bitter voice, looking over the shoulder to see a scaly blue hand was placed on her shoulder. She was getting a little tired of adult monsters always getting in the way. Why couldn't they see this game was never going to end until the child and demon souls were destroyed? She was only trying to finish the task her father left for her to finish. A deep purple glow of magic swirled above her and Undyne.

"No, you don't, Al…." Undyne barking words replaced with a painful cry. Sharp purple magical bones ripped through her blue scales and her boots scraped across the floor as the water monster's back was pushed against the wall. The bones twisted over and over as the fish monster screamed until the pain was too much for her to handle.

"U...U...UNDYNE!" Alphys gasp, covering her mouth from view at the horror before her. The yellow body was petrified to the spot watching as red liquid dripped down onto the floor. Eyes drifted up to see a blue limp body mounted against the wall. Thin sharp bones illuminated in purple magic was wedged in each shoulder, blood flowed down her arms. The yellow dino tail drag on the ground as Alphys slowly walks towards Undyne, tears streamed down scales of her cheeks. A trembling hand reached up carefully pulling the sharp bone out the older female's shoulder. The echo of the door shutting filled the room as more tears streamed down Alphy's face.

"Alphys!"

A blue light glowed from Undyne's chest as the water monster was carefully placed on the ground in front of the terrified scientist. She didn't have to turn around to know it was Sans that came to the rescue. Her yellow claw brushed through her crush's messy fiery red hair. Part of Alphys wanted to chase after her daughter, but she couldn't leave Undyne, not like this. The damage was deep and needed medical attention. Without it, the warrior would bleed out from blood loss. "P…please I b…beg of you, S...sans…. P..please stop her a…and bring her h…home . " she choked back a few tears, both hands hovering over the wounds as green healing magic swept into Undyne's wounds. Again the room was filled with an echo of the door opening, but this time leaving Alphys alone with a broken heart.


	23. Chapter 22

Sickly blurry green walls flashed by as a short skeleton ran down a long hallway in top speed. Everything in this timeline became an obscure mess of confusion, anger, and sadness. Not completely aware as to what to do. Alphys had pleaded for him to find Arial and bring her home safe, but why? The girl had stabbed Undyne without blinking an eye and left the water monster to bleed out. Nothing seemed like the same human-skeleton girl; even the way she talked and treated Frisk was off-putting. Maybe the sweet and shy girl had all been an act. Ten years seemed like a long time to put on an act, why break it now?

Sans yelled in frustration stopping as a hand slammed against the wall causing a few bones to rattle. All these unanswered questions about her were starting to piss him off as much as the resets. The only thing he was sure of was that Arial shared the same skeleton DNA as the brothers and was willing to risk her life to save his soul. Why? It seemed like she had experience with the medical field. He never took her as a scientist; she seemed more like a bookworm, who loved drawing and puns. The rage in his soul softened a bit as he remembered all the bad puns they shared together. Compared to Sans, she was still a novice, a kid. A scared teenager who was suffering from the memories of the past timelines and not knowing how to cope, just like him. Maybe the pressure was finally getting to her. If she kept this up she was going end up just like...

There was no time to waste. The short skeleton had to hurry as pink slippers slid across the floor. The skid noise echo across the tile floor as the body came to halt. White orbs were darting from side to side in his eye sockets as Sans found himself standing in the main lobby of the Royal lab. The blue soul raced in a panic within the rib cage trying to remember which exit lead to MMT Resort and which one to Waterfall. He couldn't just take a shortcut to the Judgment Hall in New Home. What if something terrible happens while he waited there for Frisk and Arial? Shaking the thought away from his mind, the skeleton decides to head towards the left exit. He was determined to stop them before they could get to the MMT building. Those feeling came to a halt when he stopped in front of a shiny metal door. Bones rattling a bit, from a mysterious aura coming from inside. Next to the door was a blue aqua plastic sign on the wall. Printed on the plate was a white silhouette of a dinosaur with words "bathroom" etched under it. There was a burning nagging feeling pulling at his soul as Sans looked back at the door. Both hands placed on the door as he leans in and pushed with all his strength to open it. Nothing happens and there were no doorknobs to pull it open. So what was the point to have a door? His attention went back to the sign hanging on the wall. All the other doors in the laboratory had keypads to get into a room. What if the sign was a ruse? Both hands grab the side of the plastic sign, hearing the sound of velcro ripping apart while slowly pulling the sign off the wall. The surprised skeleton's eyes widened while staring at a small keypad. Without thinking, he started to press in numbers: Seven…Two…Six….Seven. The metal door slid open, revealing a room with orange-yellow checkboard flooring. No, that was not right it was not a room, but a large elevator. It was the same one from his father's memory when his mother…he quickly covered his mouth starting to feel sick to the soul, falling to his knees, and grasping the doorway trying not to curl up into a sobbing mess of blue tears from the shock. The entryway to the secret laboratory was only a fingertip away, but his body wouldn't move an inch. Looking down to find a tiny purple ball of light dancing in his palm before fading away into nothingness. "Ariel…I need to find her," he said wiping away the tears while pulling himself to his feet.

This was not the time to let his father's emotions of the past drench his soul again. Sadly, the True Laboratory had to wait until he could get the anxiety of the past under control. Right now he needed to stop his little sister before she could commit an act of LOVE. With a deep sigh, the doors slide open letting Sans walk outside into the heat of Hotland. The red-orange glow of lava lit up the path as Sans raced down it, hoping with each step he was not too late. The fear strengthen, his feet stopped in front smeared dry red spots on the ground. He touched it with his hand to discover it was dried up already due to the heat, making it hard to tell if it had been blood or paint. Whatever it was, there was a trail that looks like it had no end as the skeleton began to follow it. The smooth ground turned into a rocky path which took him to fork in the road.

In the center of the road was Arial on her knees hunched over in pain as both hands covered the mouth from view. Blood was dripping off her shoulder while her human hand gripped onto a red scarf dangling around the neck. Orange-purple magic swirled around the body.

"Princess?" Sans called out in anguish running towards the girl but stopped in his tracks feeling a dark coldness coming from that direction. The blue soul began to panic behind his ribcage, pleading the body to leave at once. All he could do was to take a few steps back before stopping at the sound of a tiny crunch under his feet. Slowly lifting a slipper up to find a cracked skeleton mask with spots of blood mixed with odd gray dirt.

"Wow, you're late Comedian." A small voice snickered as a child appeared from behind Arial, gripping tightly onto the girl's black hair covered in gray powder. Their rosy cheeks lit up with excitement watching the human-skeleton curl up in pain and cry as purple-orange tears pour down his cheeks. A wicked smile spread across demon child's face, holding up a knife covered in blood. Sans watched in disgust as their tongue licked it cleaned. They know perfectly well the stupid skeleton wouldn't use his magic as long as they were standing next to his sibling. Not when she appeared to be an innocent girl. A high pitch laugh filled the air as a yellow-gray flower poked out from under demon child's striped shirt. Flowey rubbed against their face, as a dark aura beamed from their deep red eyes. "You missed the opening act," the demon child laughed. "But you're on time for the main event." A green vine tossed an object into the air, landing a few inches in front of Sans' slippers.

The skeleton stared down in confusion at a white plastic object that appeared broken. It was covered in light gray dirt. He wiped it with tip of his slipper, but stopped in horror at the sight of a painted red triangle. There was no need for words to explain what he was looking at. He could never forget the one of a kind custom chest armor that he helped make for his little brother. The sweet goofball barely ever took it off even while attending school. Sans groaned in anger as white lights disappeared from his eyes as blue orb burned in the left eye. So why was it here? Looking up he could see wicked smiles spread across the two demon's faces as they head towards him. The only assumption was that the weed had tricked Papyrus to come to Hotland somehow. Why did his young brother have to be so trusting of others? He was such a warm loving monster that didn't deserve….was? Sans pictured the worst "Why?!" He screamed turning the demon child's soul blue.

The child only laughed as they looked over their shoulder at Arial screaming in pain. Sans watched in horror as the raven hair falls from her skull and orange magic peeled away the human flesh leaving nothing, but bone. The short skeleton was speechless, not sure what he was seeing as he pulled the demon child towards him by their soul before looking back at Arial to see large lumps growing on her back under the clothing, twisting under the fabric of the cloth until ripping its way through. The back arched in pain as black feathers darted out, ripping her clothing, forming into a set of black raven colored wings. "What did you do to my siblings?!" He yelled at the wicked child.

"Just ruffed their feathers up a bit," cackling at his own pun "Maybe you should be a good little test subject and check the Witch's power level."

Darkness filled Sans' eye socket as blue fire disappeared from his left eye replaced by rings of blue and yellow. Looking down at the child he could see their hands were covered in blood, but there was no dust on them. Hanging above their head in transparent ghostly letters spelling out the name "Chara-Frisk" with the number one beside it. It's a normal power level for a human soul who never killed anyone. The number should have been higher for someone, who killed and lived hundreds of genocide timelines, but every reset meant a fresh start. His attention slowly drifted over to the tall skeleton creature that was once Arial, who was slowly standing up to her feet. The thing above their head was purple-orange glow displaying the number three, but the name was missing. There was only one conclusion, the girl, no that thing had harmed more than one living creature. Draped around its neck like a trophy, was the same red scarf that belonged to his beloved brother. In a blue flash of a heartbeat, the demon child was dropped onto the ground as Sans flashed in front of the winged skeleton. The blue fire flared out of his eye, glaring at the creature's skull. It was similar to Papyrus' vertical and geometric shaped head, but it had a thinner jawline and smaller teeth. In a strange way, it was almost like Sans was looking at a young version of his mother. This was not his mother; this was a heartless monstrous murder. It may have been wearing dark clothing, but Sans could see a hint of light gray dust on edges of the purple sleeves.

"Sansy!" the creature whispered in a soft female voice as a soft orange light glow from the left eye socket while the right one was bright purple.

Sans groaned in anger at hearing his childhood nickname spoken so casually by this creature that dared call herself family. It was clear to him the orange orb in the eye was proof that Arial had stolen Papyrus' soul. Could it have been her plan all along to take it to become a complete skeleton? With a snap of his bony fingers, two Gaster Blasters were summoned on each side of Sans. Bright lights of blue shined between the teeth waiting patiently for their master to give the order to fire. Deep hatred burned through the blue soul, but he couldn't move to give the order. He could hear soft humming noises as the skeleton girl slowly opened her mouth to sing.

"Nian zhi nian na xiang yu de yi shun jian…Wei ni ba shi kong chuan yue ."

Sans' knees give out under him. There was calm aura drifting around him, urging the skeleton to rest and sleep. He couldn't explain it, but he was starting to feel tired. The Gaster Blasters slowly disappearing as their master's eyes became pitch black sockets. The skeleton could feel his magic depleting as fuzzy warmth whispered to the blue soul. It was the same song that his mother sang to him as a child, but something was odd about it. Between the lyrics, it was like he was hearing other voices enchanting him to go to sleep. Sans quickly summoned an ecto tongue as he opened his mouth. The skeleton groaned in pain as he chopped down hard on the tip of blue tongue few times. Jolting himself awake. His hand reaching up, tip fingers jammed into the female monster's mouth while pressing down on the lower teeth. He could see purple-orange orbs shrinking in sizes, as siren's song was replaced with muffled out cries of pain. Sans wouldn't stop as hatred flooded his remembering all the times he watched Papyrus softly cry in pain as his bones were snapped into two by his murder before having a knife jabbed into a weak point on the back of the neck. Even when the younger brother was dying and turning to dust he believed that his murderer could become a better person. Unlike him, Sans was not so kind-hearted as he ripped the creature's lower jaw clean off, tossing it to the side. He watched as the winged skeleton tossed her head back, silently screaming in pain. Sans took this as his chance to teleport a yard away from her while he tries to collect himself. The dizzy tiredness still loomed in his soul but quickly vanishing. Could that have been a spell? Monsters were able to use magic, but not cast spells; wizards are the only ones able to…Arial, no she didn't deserve a font name after what she did. What did the demon-human child call her…? A witch. That would mean she had a human soul. No wonder he could never completely trusted her. A backstabbing human just like rest of them. The blue fire flared out of Sans' left eye as he summoned two Gaster Blasters again.

"It's a hot day outside. Lava flowing brightly, ice cream is melting... on days like these, freaks like you... Should be freezing in hell."

Those words sent chills down the Witch's spine. Leaning the body over as the black wings on her back flapped a bit, lifting the body off a few inches of the ground. It was useless to escape by air as she was blinded by a bright beam of white light coming from Sans' blasters. A scream within the skull as her body crumbled to the ground. Her bones trembled in pain as purple-orange tears rolled down the cheekbone. Leaning on the palms of her hands she could see shattered black feathers floating to the ground around her. The true horror was the two giant ghosts shaped like skulls glaring down at her as they recharge for another blast. Far away she could hear tiny little footsteps coming closer and closer skipping merrily towards her.

"Sansy is never going to forgive you now! How about you just give up and give me your soul again…You want a happy ending for Princess, right?" A wicked child whispered to the female skeleton while holding their hands out. They giggled as they noticing the black stubs flapping on her back before looking at a light beam forming inside the Gaster Blaster's mouth. "Hurry up…Tick…Tock." The smile disappears as a bony hand pushed the child to the side. "DIE THEN, FREAK!"

"TWO?" Flowey snapped at her from under the human child's blue and purple striped shirt. The black oval eyes watched as the skeleton witch wobbled, raised a hand in the air. Orange magic swirled in the air above her head slowly taking on a white ghostly shape, but then suddenly vanish. She clutched tightly onto the purple fabric shirt and bones of the left ribcage. A bit of orange light shined from under her clothing, casting a glow up the neck bone. The flower's eyes drifted away from the female skeleton, black ovals widen at sight of the male skeleton as a beam of light blasted from within the two Gaster Baster's mouth, aimed towards the three of them.

The rocky ground smashed into a rumble, leaving clouds of smoke and dust in the air. Sans was trapped in the dust fog as his head darted around, looking for a surprise attack. The only thing he could hear was a creepy laugh as the dust cloud died down. In front of him was a large green-white wall made up of bone and vines sticking out the ground.

Sans was speechless as he looked at the sight before him. Nuzzled in one the Witch's arms was the demon child with a devilish smirk spread across their face. The evil golden weed, Flowey was wrapped around her neck. The female didn't seem to mind as a death scythe appeared in her bony hand. The sight of the weapon caused Sans to groan as past ghostly memory of a timeline where a blade painfully cracked the center of his skull. His vision became blurry, only making out a silhouette of a figure that appeared to be tiny Death. The phantom image disappeared in time to see the Witch was on her feet rushing towards the rocky steps leading down to the river port. It was perfectly clear now how the demon was able to use skeleton magic in their last battle and why the flower needed the Witch in the last timeline. The little bitch sold her soul to the demon just like Frisk. All this time, they worked together and playing everyone for fools. No wonder it's so easy for the tiny human child to defeat the monster race over and over. They had help. "Come back here you dirty, brother killer!" he screamed.

Sharp bones covered in blue magic burst through the ground turning the rocky smooth steps into a sharply broken mess. The purple-orange lights in the Witch Skeleton's eyes widen, looking over at the dark blue aura surrounding the male monster behind her, she placed the demon child on the ground.

"Stay here, Chara." Flowey gulped looking down at the child before looking up at the monster he was wrapped around. This was so unlike Flowey to stick around in deadly situation he was not in control of. The purple-orange soul beating in the Witch's chest was in pain. He couldn't stand it. The only one allowed to hurt Experiment Two was him. "This is going be fun." He laughed, masking the fear in his voice. The smile disappeared as he noticed the Witch shake her head 'no' and letting the scythe in her hand disappear. "Al…." the flower's voice was cut short, as a bony finger placed on his mouth then unwrapped him from around her neck.

She ruffled the child's brunette hair before placing the flower on the ground. She could see red eyes beamed with anger as their usually wicked smile turned into a frown. If she had any remorse, she would be laughing at their childish behavior. She was not going stoop to their level, not again. Even if she couldn't speak there was nothing she could do to turn back time and erase what she had done. Papyrus' soul was fused into the purple soul and no way to unbind it and never bring herself to play a hand in Sans' death, not again. The only hope now was another reset to bring back the youngest brother. Even if it meant giving up the chase to destroy the demon child for good. The purple-orange lights disappeared from the eyes as the Witch head towards Sans. Magical blue bones flew through the air, scraping against her bones and shredding her dress to rags. No matter how much damage was inflicted on her, she kept on walking forward without using an ounce of magic. The Witch bowed her head, lowing herself down until she was sitting on her knees. Her damaged hands placed against her chest as purple-orange illuminated between the fingers. The witch pulled away presenting a purple-orange soul in her hands as if it was a peace offering.

"Are you showing me mercy?" Sans laughed as white orbs appeared in each eye socket. Reaching a hand out as the soul floated over to him. Fear and sad auras swept out of the heart-shaped soul. "Ariel…Sis… I know how hard it must be..." He spoke in an endearing voice as his thumb gently brushed the side of the soul. "To make that choice. To go back on everything you've worked hard on…" he placed his left hand into the blue winter jacket. The white orbs shined brightly watching the mixed soul colors dances in the pam on his hand. It was such a tiny fragile little thing. "I want you to know…I remember each timeline too..." head slowly lifting up to show off his permeant smile. "If we're really family…" The eye sockets become completely dark as he pressed his fingertip hard into the heart soul. The witch skeleton clutched her chest, leaning over in pain "You wouldn't have…" Blue flame fire busted out the left eye. The ground rumbled and shakes as large bone exposed under the Witch pushing into the rib cage. Stretching the body outwards, crushing and snapping ribs into pieces. The sharp end of blue bone pressed deep into the skull, impaling her to the spot. "Killed Papyrus," Sans spoke coldly watching the girl's bones pulse in pain as his hand slowly crushed the soul. He watched as the witch's bones turned to dust. She was making a fist and rubbed it in a circular motion across her chest. Sans was lost for words watching the girl repeat the gesture motions over and over. The dark anger aura disappeared as remorse took hold of his blue soul.

"Alice?" Sans called realizing it was a hand gesture for sorry. A bony hand reached out, but it was too late. Gray dust floated around him as a hand caught the red scarf. No, it was not possible his older sister had died eighteen years ago. Blue tears streamed down the face as the skeleton fell to his knees. Tears soaked into the scarf as the skull was buried in the red fabric. A fade out blue-orange glow could be seen beaming from under his white cotton shirt, absorbing the new power level of magic into the body. Tensed up as he felt something hard and sharp press against his neck bone.

"I know it hurts right now… Sansy," a chilling child voice whispered into his skull. Chara giggled watching San look up, the white light in eyes sockets widened in horror. It was so easy and fun to mess with the skeleton siblings. "That rush of power so thrilling…Don't you get tired of playing the tragic hero?…" the hot ground shook a bit under their feet as they noticed a blue flame blaring out of Sans' left eye. Now that Papyrus was dead, there was no reason for the older brother to keep on living in this timeline. "I wouldn't do that…Unless you never want to see your sibling again" the knife slid across the neck bone, causing his bones to tremble. The cut was not deep enough to kill the monster but did fill the air with his cry of pain as the weapon grind back and forward on the bone. Chara tossed their head back laughing. Why didn't they think about doing this a long ass time ago? The fool would do anything to see his brother again. "That's a good bone boy." A wicked smile spread across the face, feeling the ground under them settled down. "Who should I have you ki…" those words cut off as the demon child's body slumped heavily on the San's back. Blood soaked through their clothing into the back of San's winter jacket. The hand holding the knife went limp as the arm draped across his shoulder dropping the weapon onto the ground.

Quickly looking over his shoulder, Sans could see red bloodshot eyes glaring at him behind the dead child. A dark laughter chilled the air as gray-yellow flower bobbed its head up and down happily. Glowing white petals hovered over their head. "Howdy…Trash can…" Flowey snickered as vines wrapped around the demon child, before tossing the dead body off of the skeleton. "Let me make this quick and clear…Subject Two…" he snarled as vines busted out the ground, grabbing the back of San's jacket, flinging him down to the ground."Arial is…my fri…TOY! I'm the only one who has the right to break the Freak." The redness grew dark in his eyes. "If you ever touch her again…Chara killing your idiot brother would be the least of your worries." More vines busted out the ground wrapping around his prey's limbs. "Do we have an understanding?" he asked as Sans cried in pain feeling his bones snap one by one as the demon flower pressed hard onto the limbs.

The sound of screaming washed out as buzzing noise hummed in the air. A bright red-orange glow of Hotland colors was washed out only leaving black and white tones. The pain in Sans' body had disappeared, but his body was trapped to the spot. The only thing he could see was a wicked weed looking down at him. It was time for another reset, but nothing in the world could erase the unsettling feeling of anger and remorse. All He could do was watch as black spots appeared over him and the flower, swallowing everything around them. Wondering if the agony in the soul would ever go away. Sans felt like a lost child in the woods not sure what path to take next. Orange-blue glowed around his chest as movement returned to his bones. Looking up quickly to see transparent orange-blue glowing skeleton hand grasped his coat. It was time to return to the darkness and find his long-lost father; good timing, because he had few bones to pick with the mad scientist.


	24. Chapter 23

Transparent glowing skeleton hands hold onto the blue jacket, tightly pulling as a white light splashed against the body. All around were flat glowing rectangles, floating quietly in a sea of darkness. The ghost hand let go of the prisoner and drifted next to him. Sans shifted his body until it was floating right side up in front of a few flat rectangles. The last time he visited this place the images on the screens were rewinding back to the moment the last human fell into the Underground. Not this time. On the screen in front of him was a still image of him lying on the ground, bound by vines as Flowey looked down upon him. The screen above was a close up of an evil grin that had spread across the flower's gray face. His bones shivered at the image and turned to look away. The blue soul was relieved it was over as he started to swim away from the terrible image, following behind were the ghostly orange-blue hands. Worry started to sink into the blue soul as the skeleton passed by the other screens displaying the Underground. Just like the one he came out of, the rest were also on pause. Why hasn't it all reset by now? A bony hand trembled in fear as he reached out for the nearest portal home, but stopped. Touching it now may send him back to a frozen world and he couldn't leave this one yet. He still needed to find W.D Gaster, his father. No telling if he would get other chance to come back to this darken place again.

It didn't take long for Sans to find the white deformed creature sitting on a giant ram skull with their back facing him. He tries calling out to his father, but there was no sound as he swam over to the taller monster. Forgetting for a moment there was no sound in this world of darkness. Gaster was too busy and lost in thought that he didn't notice someone crawled onto the blaster behind him. Leaning over the shoulder, Sans could see a strange orange-blue transparent font appeared in front of his father. Sad gloomy aura drifting out of Gaster's soul as a tiny purple spark flew in front of the skull. In a blink of an eye, the spark was caught between his index finger and thumb.

" **👍l✌💣 👎o🕈n ✌l✋👍e…✋🕯💣 💧🕆re 📪 💧✌n💧 👎oe💧n🕯❄ h✌❄e ✌r✋✌l 📬** "

Sans stood there silently next to his father as he watched the tiny glowing purple font looked similar to his. A dark anger rage mix with a hint of fear with every tiny purple glowing letter that appeared.

" **✋ f🕆👍😐e👎 🕆🏱📪 👎✌👎📬📬📬🏱✌🏱🏱✡ 🕈✌💧 👎✡✋ng ✌n👎 ✋ 👎✋👎🕯❄ 😐no🕈 🕈h✌❄ ❄o 👎o 📬 💧o 👌efore he 👍o🕆l👎 👍o💣🏱le❄el✡ ❄🕆rn ❄o 👎🕆💧❄📪 ✋ ❄oo😐 h✋💧 💧o🕆l …✋ ❄ho🕆gh❄ 💣✌✡👌e 🕈✋❄h ❄🕈✋n💧🕯 🏱o🕈er ✋ 👍o🕆l👎 o✞er🏱o🕈er 👍h✌r✌ f✋n✌ll✡…❄he✡ 🕈ere ❄oo 💧👍✌re👎 of h✌r💣n✋g fr✋💧😐🕯💧 💧o🕆l…❄hen 💧✌n💧 💧ho🕈e👎 🕆🏱…✋ j🕆💧❄ 🕈✌n❄ ❄h✋💧 go👎 👎✌💣e n✋gh❄💣✌re ❄o en👎…🏱le✌💧e 📪 f🕆👍😐✋ng 😐✋ll 💣e ✌lre✌👎✡📬 🏱🕆❄ 💣e o🕆❄ 💣✡ 💣✋💧er✡…👎✌👎👎✡✏** "

The purple light from the spark darkens as it wiggled out of his bony fingers. The tiny thing didn't get too far before being recaptured by the same fingers. Blue light burned in Gaster's left eye as the purple ball turned to a blue color. If Sans' father was able to use magical psychokinesis, then that meant the thing was a soul. It was possible that the tiny purple soul was Papyrus' twin sister. If so, what was the soul doing here? The skeleton wasn't much of a religious monster, but he was starting to wonder if this dark place was the afterlife. Last time he saw the purple spark… no, the soul, it pushed into one of the floating screens of sleeping Arial on it, right before Sans was cursed with part his father's soul. So the soul couldn't be dead. Could be linked to so-called little sister, Arial, the brother killer. Sans silently groaned hate that there were more question then answers piling up again. How could it be possible for a tiny thing with little magic to be alive all this time when it was less than half size of a complete heart-shaped soul.

" **🕈✌❄👍h ✡o🕆r l✌ng🕆✌e ✡o🕆ng l✌👎✡…✋ 😐no🕈 🏱erfe👍❄l✡ 🕈ell ❄h✌❄ ✡o🕆 🕈ere go✋ng ❄o 💧ell ✡o🕆r 💧o🕆l ❄o 👍h✌ron📬📬📬 e✞en ✌❄ ❄he 👍o💧❄ of ✌r✋✌l🕯💧 l✋fe …✋ ❄ol👎 ✡o🕆 ❄o 💧❄✌✡ ✌🕈✌✡ fro💣 ❄h✌❄ 💧🏱✋r✋❄…✌ll he c✌re💧 ✌👌o🕆❄ ✋💧 👌e👍o💣✋ng 💧❄rong 💧o he 👍✌n o✞er🏱 o🕈er 😐✋ng ✌💧gore ✌n👎 ❄✌😐e 👌✌👍😐 🕈h✌❄ 👌elong💧 ❄o h✋💣…✋ 😐no🕈 ✡o🕆 h✌❄e ❄he 😐✋ng 📪 👌🕆❄ 🕆n👎ergro🕆n👎 nee👎 h✋💣 ❄o 💧❄✌✡ ✋n 🏱o🕈er …✋🕯💣 gl✌👎 💧✌n💧 💧❄o🏱🏱e👎 ✡o🕆📬** "

Sad orange-blue text appeared as Gaster's light pushed down on the soul, before releasing between the fingers. A bony finger waved in the air as it guided the soul covered in blue magic onto his lap. Sans edged a little closer as he watched the soul spark move across the black fabric like a victim trapped in waves of water. Gaster reached out a hand as a finger was extending out careful petting the poor thing, it wouldn't hold still. Sans could sense his father just wanting to comfort the tiny soul, but it was too angry and wanted nothing to do with him as purple text floated out of it.

" **✋ 🕈✌💧 ❄r✡✋ng ❄o 🏱🕆❄ en👎 ❄o ❄he re💧e❄💧… ✋ ❄ho🕆gh❄ ✡o🕆 🕈✌n❄e👎 ❄o 💧e❄ ✌n✡one free ✌❄ ✌n✡👍o💧❄…🕈✋❄h ❄he h🕆💣✌n📫💧😐ele❄on 💧o🕆l 📪 ✡o🕆 👍re✌❄e👎 👍h✌ron 👍o🕆ld 🕆💧e ❄h✌❄ 🏱o🕈er ❄o 👌✋n👎 Fr✋💧😐 ✌n👎 👍h✌r✌🕯💧 🏱o🕈er of 👎e❄er💣✋n✌❄✋on📬 ❄hen ❄he✋r 💧o🕆l ✌n👎 o❄her h🕆💣✌n 💧o🕆l💧🕯 👍o🕆l👎 f✋n✌ll✡ 👌e 🕆💧e👎 ❄o 👌re✌😐 ❄he 👌✌rr✋er📬📬📬 ❄h✌❄🕯 🕈h✡ ✡o🕆 👍re✌❄e👎 ❄he h🕆💣✌n📫 💧😐ele❄on 🏱roje👍❄ ✋n ❄he f✋r💧❄ 🏱l✌👍e…👎o ✡o🕆 re✌ll✡ ❄h✋n😐 😐✋ng ✌💧gore i💧 go✋ng ❄o le❄ 🕆💧 l✋✞e h✌🏱🏱✋ly e✞er ✌f❄er 🕈✋❄h o🕆r 👌ro❄her💧…🕈e🕯re j🕆💧❄ 💧o💣e f✌✋le👎 e✠🏱er✋💣en❄ 👍oo😐 🕆🏱 ✋n ✡o🕆r l✌👌📬 💧o 🕈ho 👍✌re💧 ✋f 🕈e 👎✋💧✌🏱🏱e✌red✍** "

An explosion of rage burned from the tall creature's eyes as a bony hand reached down to grab the tiny soul. The thing floated right through the hole in the middle of his hand, racing towards the nearest screen with an image of Hotland. It was useless as Gaster used blue magic to bring it back to him. Sans slinked down see larger orange-blue texted appeared overhead. He felt like a small child watching as his father used blue magic as punishment towards the soul, flings around in different directions. The lights in Sans eyes disappeared as mind floated back on a warm winter day. Papyrus had just turned five and wanting to test out the new ice skates, but their father told both of them no. They would have to wait a few days for the temperature to drop more so they lake would be more frozen solid. Papyrus really wanted to go badly and Sans couldn't deny a cute baby bone's request. Both of them were tiny and didn't weight much so he thought the ice should be able to hold them. They waited until their father went to work before sneaking out of the house to the lake. Sans is not much of the athletic type so he mostly sat on the snow watching Papyrus go around in circles trying to make a figure eight. He only looked away for a moment. Suddenly the sound of something snapping apart and splashing alarmed him to look back. There was no sign of Papyrus as he jumped to his feet. A child screaming echoing in the air as tiny arms splashed around in a large hole in the lake. The bones rattled in panic as Sans raced across the ice, only have cracked under the presser, leaving him strained on a chunk of ice. His hand reached out as he tries to summon enough magic to lift his baby brother out the freezing water. He was still too young to use psychokinesis on a soul so far away. Horror filled the blue soul as he watched the tiny bony hand disappeared out of sight but then reappeared. Blue magic shined around passed out Papyrus' chest as the tiny wet skeleton wearing oversize orange hoodie was pulled out cold wet prison. Turning the head slightly back towards snow bank Sans could see his father standing on snow as his brother placed on the snow safely. Sans relived as he felt his father's blue magic take hold of his own soul. Those emotions quickly turned to fear as the body hovers in midair. Screaming escaped the mouth as he was jolted around different direction never coming in connect with objects. The presser, anger in Gaster's eyes and being toss around like rag doll none stop without letting soul time to recover was painful enough on Sans. There was no permeant damage to the soul, but sharp chilling memory enough to make him never want to disobey his father's orders again. Almost freezing Papyrus' soul to death didn't help either. Sans slowly pulled himself back to reality as he looked up to see the purple spark, feeling a bit sorry for the unknown soul. The bony hand gripping on to the blue jacket, staring up at strange orange-blue font filled with burning fury with every letter that appeared.

 **"✡o🕆 fool✋💧h 👍h✋l👎📬 👎o ✡** o🕆 ❄h **✋n😐 ✋ 🕈✌n❄ ✌n✡ of 💣✡ 👍h✋l👎** ren ❄o **👌e 🕈** h✋🏱 o **🕆❄ e✠✋💧❄en❄💧…✋f ✋ 🕈✌** n❄ ✡o **🕆 👎e✌👎 ✋ 🕈o🕆l👎** h✌✞e **le❄ 👎❄ e✠❄r✌👍❄✋on 💣✌👍h✋** ne 👎e **💧❄ro✡ ✡o🕆r 💧o🕆l long ✌go📬📬📬✋ 👍o🕆l👎** n🕯❄ 👎o **✋❄…👌o❄h of ✡o🕆 ✌re 💣✡ 👎✌🕆gh❄er💧 ✌n👎 ✋ 👍✌re 👎ee🏱** l✡ ✌👌o **🕆❄ ❄he 👌o❄h of ✡o🕆📬Ho🕈 👍o🕆** l👎 ✡o **🕆 👌e 💧o 💧hellf✋💧** h ❄o **🕈✌💧❄e ✡o🕆r l✋fe ✌🕈✌✡✍📬📬📬🕈h✌❄ ✌👌** o🕆❄ ✌👎✌r **✌✍ 🕈✋❄ho🕆❄ ✌r✋✌l 📪 ❄h✌❄ 🏱oor g✋** rl **👍✌n🕯❄ e✠✋💧❄📬"**

Gaster shakes his head as he slowly lowered the soul before releasing from the magic. Sad aura drifting from spark as it lay on Gaster's fingertip while he carful petted with another finger.

 **"✋ 😐o🕈n ✋❄ h✌r👎 💧🕈ee❄he✌r❄ ✌n👎 ✡o🕆🕯re ❄✋re👎📪 👌🕆❄ ✋ nee👎 ✡o🕆 ❄o 💧❄✌✡ 💧❄rong for ✡o🕆r ✡o🕆nger 💧✋👌l✋ng💧 ✌n👎 hol👎 on ✌ l✋❄❄le longer 📬 😐 ✋ h✌✞e 😐no🕈n ✡o🕆 r✌❄her f✋n✋💧h f🕆💧✋ng 🕈✋❄h ✌r✋✌l ✌n👎 forge❄ e✞er✡❄h✋ng📪 👌🕆❄ 💧✌n💧 nee👎💧 ✡o🕆 r✋gh❄ no🕈📬 ✌l✋👍e📬📬📬"**

The orange-blue texted disappear as Sans final got the courage tug on the guppy black stuff part the older monster's body. A dark shadow cast over Sans as Gaster turned body slightly not noticing spark had escaped from his fingertips. Mixed emotions of negative and positive poured out from the older monster's soul as a trembling hand brushed the side of the younger one's face.

"Hey, there Pops?" Sans signed with his hands pulling away from the older monster. It was still hard to believe that disfigured creature standing in front of him was once his father. The only thing that even resembled a skeleton was the melted skull and what was left of two bony hands. The same hands his father craved holes into for his experiments.

"Sans…hold on moment…." The ghost hands gestured as Gaster's head darted around looking for the purple soul.

The white light rolled in Sans' eye as he pulled hard on Gaster's melted black body. "I'm done waiting…I have a bone pick with you…What hell is going on here? Don't lie. I'm positive you been watching all this from the beginning. So why didn't you try to get in connect with me sooner." Sans gestured in anger as darkness fill the eye sockets.

"I'm sorry Sans….You see it wasn't until the last timeline when you went to the bar and meet Arial that I realized your memories not erased like all other monsters. I not sure why, but it gives me some hope." The ghost hands quickly crossed fingers as Gaster pointed to Sans's shirt. A deep orange light flickered from under the shirt. "Cursing you with Astral Heart was the only thing I could come up with to help."

Sharp pain tinkled down the blue heart as Sans recalled all painful memory focused into his own soul. Placing a right hand on top of the left palm and move both hands upwards. "Helpful! I loved seeing my adopted sister and mother die….Very helpful Pops…Thanks..." Angry shimmered from the left eye, as he extends the fingers and thumb. Touch fingers to the chin and bring the fingers forward. It was almost like Sans was blowing a kiss to Gaster, but hand gesture was too low and full of despite.

The older monster tiled the head to the side, tapping his fingers against the ram shaped blaster's skull. There was cold silent of stillness in the air between the both of them as he pondered what to say. A deep apology was out the question. It had to be done and there no way to erase the tarmac event from the child's memory. "I'm bound to the Void, a cold place with no sound… I don't exist in our universe anymore or this timeline…I need you. I sure you understand in due time" a solid bony hand glowed blue as it summoned Sans' soul out the young skeleton's chest. "I know it not easy watching your loved ones die over and over again. You can't do anything about it…It had to be done" bring the heart up to his face, studying the orange tiny lump on the young one's blue soul. The area surrounding the lump had dark blue scorch marks. The scars would heal over time, but He couldn't believe that his daughter was able to remove some of the Astral Heart without destroying either of their soul or causing physical damage "You know sign language now and you don't fear me like last time…I would count that as some progress."

Sans reaching out a hand to reclaim his soul. "I still don't understand the point of all this" he gesturing before slipping off the skull letting body float into black nothingness. The hands shake in anger before turning into fits. He couldn't stand looking at his father anymore. How could his father count that as progress? All it really did was open a door to a box of unanswered question and emotional scarring of pain. Did Gaster really want to help the Underground or maybe there was something dark up the creature's black sleeve? This was the men who keep secrets from his sons and a girl locked up in the laboratory for six years. Experiment so important that their neglected father would rather spend time on a project then being part of a family. Could it be possible Sans just some spare body for his father use to finish a stupid project?

Orange-blue lights appeared in Gaster's eye socket as the broken skeleton watched as his son light poked at the lump on his soul. The ghost hands quickly moved in front of the boy as one tapped Sans on the shoulder. The blue soul drifted back into Sans' body as young one looked up to see the hands pointing a finger at him. "You haven't realized yet have you, Sans." The ghost hands gestured as solid hands placed on each of San's shoulder directing the body turn towards a screen of a gray hallway. Near the end was a bright hazy light. Sans could almost make out a washed out landscape of forest behind. Could this have been the barrier that split the human and monster race from each other? A bony hand covered in black goop sleeve extends over the shoulder as a finger pointed at something on the bottom of the screen. In front of the magical transparent wall were seven jars, only five contained souls. That was not right there should be six children souls that been collected. Frisk's been the eight child to fall but would have been the seventh to help to complete the ritual. Where did the missing sixth soul go? Dark numbing haziness hummed over the skull as body pulled back a bit. Ghostly transparent hands drifted down in front of him as fingers started to move. "Listen to me carefully. It, not Arial fault with what happens to Papyrus…I need all of you to work together and take human's…" the signing stop as hands quickly evaporated into thin air.

Tiny gray particles brushed against the skull and blue jacket leaving behind a thin layer of dust on the back of short skeleton. The head turned slightly as Sans looked over the shoulder. The bones tensed up at the chilling sight of the gray dust cloud. In the midst of horror, he could make out a silhouette of two tiny creatures glowing in crimson light. A silent scream of anger and sorrow escaped Sans' mouth. For the second time in his life, he had lost his father. The soul felt like it was being ripped into two as tears traveled down the side of the skull. This one monster may have had the key solve all the Underground hardship had been dusted in a blink of an eye. Sans sure that his worlds physical rules didn't apply to Void. No reset was going be able to bring his father back. Without Gaster, Sans was also entity stuck reliving the past memories of his father until the day it consumed every fiber of his soul. Dark blue aura consumed the skeleton as magical bones appeared overhead.

A small slivery flat oval object clasped in the hands of one of the creatures while remains of orange-blue soul dripped from ends of the glowing blade. Only guess it was some kind of knife created from magical determination to kill. Unlike the other one, this one was a darker shade making hard to see districted features. Black liquid poured out its hollow eyes. Where there should be lips was nothingness, but an empty dark space forming a creepy wide smile across the face. The taunting smile twisted into a silent at laugh as fear floating out of lost skeleton as they walked closer to him. The lighter red silhouette creature followed closely next to the darker one. Their head shakes side to side as they retched out grabbing the other one by the arm. Guessing by their simple behavior it was clear crimson lights where Frisk and the demon child. No wondering the universe was still frozen in time. The little brats must have stopped the reset so they could hide somewhere in the darkness binding time to strict for their killing.

Blue magic swirled around a bony hand as the arm was lifting into the air. If the children want to play kill or be killed game then Sans would gladly be the reaper of the story. There was deep fear in the back of the mind, what if one child death caused their universes to end. A world forever frozen and lost in the pitch blackness of the Void. Either way, the death of the children meant that monsters would never have to endure other genocide, ending it all would be blessing and freedom for the skeleton. No more reset, still there was a slim chance of no more….Papyrus…Grillby…Undyne and rest of the Underground. If Sans died in the Void would that mean he would stop existing? It didn't matter anymore. Dyeing as Sans was nice choice than waiting for the day to be gobbled up by Gaster's personally.

Sans waved his hand forward as two sharp bones were summoned and went flying toward the enemy. Out nowhere the attack stop as he felt something pushed lightly against him. Looking down he could see a red outline of Frisk pushing on him backward, close the gap between him and one of the rectangle screens. A bright light shimmed through the skeleton's body causing him to light up like a lampshade. Unknown force tugging on the blue soul, trying to pull him back home. Sans not ready as blue orb burned in the left while he took hold of human child's soul forcing them off. Leaving him wide open as demon child lifting a blade in the air, swung down towards the skeleton's chest. In a swift motion, the bones cover in blue magic stab demon child in shoulders while the knife misses the blue soul few inches. Demon child's blacken smile twisted into a circle as if they were silently crying in pain while looking at the knife wedge in the skeleton's blue winter jacket. A dark crimson hand shook in pain, cutting through the fabric with the knife, making its way to the monster's soul. Sans not going let end here not while the demon was still alive. It was time take the evil child with him. Retching out with both bony hands and grabbing onto the bones pin inside the dark crimson child's shoulders, twisting and turning. The black mouth twisting into inhuman shapes of aching discomfort, black oozy tears stained the skeleton's white shirt. Painful cries echoed inside the skull as the tip of the knife pierced slowly into the San's soul. The mind becoming fuzzy the deeper blade moved forward. Blue and white light flickered from the left eye as skull looked down watching as a bony hand slowly crumbled into gray dust.

Floating out in front of them was Frisk standing in front of a large cracked transparent button. The word on the display was backward but was clear it was the reset button. Crimson hands pushing down on the reset button causing white light behind Sans flared up engulfing them all. The blind skeleton could see nothing as despair soul raced behind the rib cage. The skeleton's anger disappeared as the feeling of fear and lost started to consume him. A small patch of shadows and light danced across blurry orange stone flooring came into view. Sans had no control over the body as he ran past two purple-golden thorns and stain glass windows engraved with Delta Rune. He was not sure where he was, but guessing by the chair it had to be the thorn room in the past before it was turned into a garden of golden flowers after the passing of Prince Asriel. If the room was in this state then it was clear Sans was trapped in another one of his father's vision.

Gaster looked down noticing gray dust on his black boots while walking through a doorway. The pace slowed down to a walk as feet cross a smooth light gray flooring. A bony hand glides across dark brick try stable the rattling bones under the lab coat. The body was tired and drained, but he couldn't go home, not yet. Hint bittiness in the soul as the body stopped in front large archway glaring up at the engraved royal family seal on the top. The monochrome hallway had depressed dusty feeling of death. Would cause any soul to feel uneasy gloominess. The skeleton didn't stay long as body walked thought curved structure into complete darkness. Sans couldn't see a thing in the pitch blackness as Gaster leaned down on his knees. Hands glided across the smooth surfaces of the ground as the body slowly crawled on the ground. Crippling and buzzing noise floating air as skeleton searching came to end. One the knees sink down as ground shake under the body. Green, yellow and purple light beamed in darkness as seven glass container rose from the ground. Inside three containers where brightly glowing human souls.

It was clear now why Sans able to hear the buzzing of tiny insects and why it was so dark. They were standing in front the barrier during nightfall. The chamber room was off limits to everyone except for the King. So why was he father here?

Gaster's hand reached into the lab coat, slowly pulling out a smooth object. The skeleton sighed looking down a tube filled with green liquid in his hand. Inside the liquid was a tiny gray-purple transparent ball sitting at the bottom. "Sweetheart hold on…Daddy just needs to find you more energy" He whispered to dyeing soul holding her out in front of him. Bright purple light shimmering out one large container as purple hearted spine and dance in the glass jar. Unlike other souls, this was only one to react to the little spark as warm happy aura glowed between too purple souls. A bony hand careful placed the tube back into the lab coat as Gaster watched purple human soul press against the glass of it confined. The poor human soul, they had no physical sense, but they seemed senses another soul when present. Gaster carful picked up the jar with human soul, shared the same soul trait as his daughter. Arms wrapped tightly around the jar, before turning around. The body tensed up at an image of a little human girl wearing black bunny hoodie quickly flashed in the mind. Gaster looking over the shoulder at the other two then back at one in his arms. He couldn't leave yet, not when one the human souls could be his other little girl, Alice. Spending days and nights locked in a glass cage like a clipped bird, having their dreams and hopes snuffed out by shellfish creatures. It was heartbreaking. Sadly he couldn't carry all the jars. Sadness and rage burned in the soul as Gaster tighten the hold around the jar in his arms. He could only save one daughter at the moment. What if the purple one was Alice? No, he promised Bel to save both the twins. "I sorry little one…I need your life forces to save my baby girl."

These words left a bitter taste in Gaster's mouth as he took a step forward. Try hard to convince himself Alice had to be the green human soul. She was such a kind little girl that shared thing with others and thought of others before herself. It didn't help to remember how girl's baby blue eyes would glow purple when she used magic to calm other's souls. Maybe it was a side effect of using skeleton blood; Bel's blood to help find a cure for Reaper Kiss. His beloved soulmate, a purple soul of perseverance just like little soul spark struggling to be part of this world, hidden away inside the lab coat pocket at this moment. Never giving up no matter how hard things were in life. "Hold on de…"

"Tra la la…Good afternoon Dr. WD Gaster. It's pleasure to see you again."

A dark cold shadow finger stood in the doorway causing the bones to tense up with a mix of fear and anger. Gaster could never forget the cold gravelly voice of the man, who took part in the murder of his eldest child in cold blood. The skeleton wanted nothing more than to rip the demon's soul out and let that thing watch as he slowly squeezed the dark soul into dust. Dark hatred burned in the eye socket as Gaster watched the murder take few steps towards him, with a yellow gun clasped tightly in hood man's gloved hand. The skeleton carefully adjusted the container in the right arm before extending another handout. "YOU!" he screamed as blue magic swirled around the left hand summoning a bone.

"Charon …Gaster?"

A quiet stillness sent a chill down the bone as both hustle monsters tensed up at the sound of deep gentle voice called out to them. Deep glowing crimson eyes glared at them as huge tall shadow finger stepped into the room. A soft red-orange light beamed from lantern as it was slowly lifted up, casting a light of the flames onto a white furry face of male goat monster. A wave of his free hand, tiny fireballs was summoned, lighting up the space of the room.

The orange-blue soul shivered in anger and fear as Gaster released the hold on his magic bone, letting it disappeared into thin air. The soul deeply wants to take down the hood monster in front of him, but the bones couldn't move an inch.

"Tra la la...My Lord Asgore, shouldn't you be in bed?" Charon step to the side as the right hand pressed horizontally across the abdomen while another arm with the gun hidden behind out of sight. He quickly lowers the torso and head into a respectable bow.

"I couldn't sleep…I want to wish the children goodnight and read them a story." The king smiled half heartily looking at no one, but the skeleton in front of him. A larger white paw stroked the ends of his golden beard as a puzzled expression appeared across the face noticing the container with the purple soul was not with the rest of the children souls. A hint of red anger burned in his eyes as an unbearable sound of clinging armored plates mashed into each other. The mouth twisted back and forward between a frown and slightly opening as if he was contemplating about what to say. A deep sigh final escaped the lips as he slight turning the body towards the wall and placing the lantern on a hook.

"Tra la la…You're too kind my lord" Charon cocked the head to the side, peeking around from behind Asgore. Yellow orbs flickered from pitch backless of the hood as dark aura drifted into the room. A black gloved hand extending out towards skeleton, but quickly retreated back to the hood monster's side.

"I'm sorry King Asgore for the late intrusion. " Gaster quickly bowed, not taking his eyes off Charon. The monster's name seemed familiar, but he couldn't recall from where. The sound of it left sharp cold pain in the chest as if Charon rip the soul out of him at any time. The left handshake while he slipped into the lab coat, careful gripping onto the tube. It was faint, but there was still a pulse of magic coming from purple soul spark. Time was running out for the poor girl. Gaster couldn't leave yet, not after being caught red hand inside the chamber room. It didn't matter what punished befouled him long as his children left unharmed. Papyrus only newborn and required magical nutriments from another skeleton. Sans too young for the task, so whatever happened, Gaster needs to make sure to stay alive for their sake, at whatever the cost? "I want to take look at the barrier." He lied between his teeth sending some magic to soul spark.

"Why are you holding child soul…?" Charon snickered, the lights glowing brightly in the hood. No matter which way the creature turned its head, Gaster couldn't make out any of the monster's features. Could the robe be chanted with some kind ancient magic? The sickly yellow orbs felt like staring at lab coat as skeleton pulled his hand out the pocket. "Sneaking around like a rat during the night…Tra la la"

Everything that was happening was ghostly visions of the past, Sans couldn't help feeling frightened and angry. There was something odd about the hood creature referred to as Charon. The robes he wore were the same ones that present-day Arial wore the first time he met her and the River Person. Did that mean there was a connection between them? Charon appeared to work for the Royal Family and permitted inside the chamber room. If this monster had such high raking, why was he working as a ferryman in the present day Underground?

"I'm sorry for my rudeness…The project I'm working on required a soul…a human soul." Gaster explained.

"Doesn't explain why you couldn't wait until morning to ask me." Asgore sighed, carefully placing a paw on the crown of the skeleton's skull, softly petting Gaster. This only caused the scientist to groan while taking a few steps back tightly holding the container. He hated being treated like a baby bone. In the King's eyes, mostly everyone in the Underground was still children to him and needed to be protected. "I thought Toriel order you take few days from the lab to tend to your sons …I will forgive you for breaking and entering this time…." Furry hands placed on the container, tugging on it lightly try to get the skeleton to let go willingly. "Throwing yourself into your work NOT HEALTHY FOR GRIEVING PROGRESS…" shouting the last part as he final yanking the glass container away from Gaster. " What would Bel think…." deep sadness glossed in the eyes as the goat monster lost train of thought.

Every bone in Gaster's body felt heavy at the mention of his soulmate's name. If was not for his children the skeleton would have laid down days go and waited for death to take him. The king was correct; tossing oneself into work was not the best choice. What he was doing was not work, it foolish hope to save a life. Telling Asgore the full truth would only burden the King. The skeleton still angry and blamed the king for Alice's death. The Royal family was hope and dreams of the Underground, without them the monster race would fall apart. "It couldn't wait for your Majesty. The first body I created failed and second one not far behind."

In flash Charon appeared in front Gaster, grabbing hold the bony hands. Gaster tried to pull away, but the monster much too stronger for him. The hooded creatures head tile to side in puzzlement as smooth gloved fingers glide across the edge of the hole carved out of the palm of Gaster's hands. Deep chuckle echo inside the hood causing the skeleton rattle in fright. "Tra la la…My lord he telling the truth." Charon said letting go of one of the skeleton hand before lightly patted outside of lab pocket that contended the soul spark.

The light wide in Gaster's eye sockets as Charon moved slightly to the side as he holds up one Gaster's hand out in front of them. Pure horror washed over goat monster face at the sight hole craved in the bony hand. Over the last three years, Gaster had been careful to hide left hand in the coat pocket, behind the back or wore gloves. Anything that would keep it out of sight. This night it had slipped his mind after discovering the tiny soul spark lost a lot of her magic and having trouble simulating with the human-skeleton embryo. All he could think about finding a soul and stealing its life force. Only a demon would take it from living. Stealing from one the fallen children seemed to be the best choices. After death, the human soul should have disappeared, but instead, the monsters chained them to the world of the living inside containers he made long ago to persevere the souls. Gaster had convicted himself that taking from the human child's soul would free them from their imprisonment.

Asgore retched out and cupped the bony hands. Greenlight swirled around the paws. The crimson eyes lowered in disappointment as he slowly opened find no change to Gaster's hands. Sadly healing magic could only fix wounds. Not even best-skilled healers could restore body part have been carved out, destroy completely. This didn't stop the King as he tries again only end up with the same results. "Alright Gaster, you can…" Pausing for a moment as the head turned towards Charon. The hood monster slight node his head, before the king returned his attention back to the skeleton. "Have the soul… I never want the experiment to leave the laboratory and it exists to get out to the public. You are not to speak a word of the project, not even to your sons or the rest of the royal family. I want detail report every week." He demands in a hushed voice with sadness in the eyes. "If something should happen to the purple soul before the last human falls, I will hold your family responsible."

"I'm sure the doctors wouldn't dare fail you, my lord…" Charon snickered hold out container with the purple heart for Gaster to take. "Tra la la. Remember to take a break, every-so-often dear doctor..."

Gaster slightly nods the head in agreement as he tightly wrapped his arms around the container. The chamber room disappears as orange-blue lights surround skeleton, transporting him to the room where Subjected One had been created. It was rude not bow or show gratitude for the gift, but he couldn't take a chance of either of them taking back the offer. There was something off-putting about Charon he didn't like. That creature had touched his pocket with….A hand quickly slipped into the lab coat as he pulled out the tube. The spark soul not giving off any glow, it was just a gray ball lying on the bottom of the glass tube. She was dying.

Gaster slowly walked as the sound of glass crunched under his boots. Sans was not sure how many days it had been from the last vision of the secret laboratory. It seemed like his father hadn't really cleaned up after the loss of his soulmate. On the desk was still a computer monitor with the broken screen now surrounded by the empty bottles with their labels plead off. On the floor, were labels spelling out the names of fire whiskey and bloody mary. Sans laughed at the depressing messy sight. Like father, like son. All it was missing was dirty old socks and they would be a perfect match.

Gaster carefully places the tube on the desk before taking a seat in the computer chair, placing the container between his legs. A hand reached out and picking up a rectangle box, popping the top open, and pulling out a cigarette. The skeleton took a few puffs of the cigarette watching the human child soul spin around in the circle inside the container. The drug left bitterness on the ecto tongue but sent vibes of pleasure to the orange-blue soul. Unlike alcohol that made the mind feel good and fuzzy, nicotine only left a calm effect on the soul. Skeletons didn't have lungs so there was no danger in getting cancer. It helps to clear the mind of some anxiety leering around as Gaster tries to figure out what do. The agreement he made was not to harm the human soul. This meant that Gaster couldn't take the life force. Without it, his daughter could die. There was no telling what would happen if he disobeyed the King.

During the war, Asgore had taken countless lives but never harmed a child with his own hands. The King could take the title of Royal Scientist away and brand the skeleton family as an enemy to the Underground. No one would hire traitors and it would be difficult to save up money for the children's college. Death didn't truly scare him, he had a long life. It was banned his children that worried him. There was no telling what the monster, Charon would do to Sans and Papyrus.

He carefully opened the lid on the container. Fusion between the two souls was the only option now. There were legends of human and monster souls becoming one, but it was only stories. It was a risk that Gaster was willing to take. His arm shook like crazy while gripping tightly around the tube but careful not to drop it as the green liquid with a tiny soul poured into the larger container. Skeleton souls were so tiny and weak; the human soul could easily dust in a flash. The human soul did no such thing as it floated around sparking a few times, before tapping against little one lightly. The purple light flicked from the speck, but it quickly died down. Again the heart taped the soul. Nothing happened. It almost seemed like the human soul was worried, nuzzling next to the tiny soul for comfort. Gaster sighed as he turned both souls blue and pushed them into each other. Forcing a fusion was not right, but there was no time to wait for the young souls to figure it out on their own. Painful aura filled, a white-purple agonizing light flashed from inside the container. Blue soul ached in pain as Sans watched, the purple souls struggled to stay apart as two separate beings. It was useless as the speck was adsorbed inside the purple heart creating a perfect human-monster soul, weeping in sorrow.


End file.
